Thoughts
by Truth-Unspoken
Summary: Unspoken feelings complicates Tifa's, Cloud's, Zack's, and Aeris' relationship with each other. Will everyone end up with "The One?" Or will they make the biggest mistake in their liftime? Come read to find out!
1. Breaking Smiles

**Thoughts**

**Chapter 1: Breaking Smiles**

I sighed. Another boring and uneventful day in Seventh Heaven. Of course, the drunken men who kept trying to hit on her was funny to watch, of course, but eventually it all felt to routine.

I looked up. Only a few more people left, then she was free to shower.

"Hey, Fifa! 'Nother one ovah here!" One of her customers said, drunk.

She fixed him a small drink, and placed it in front of him.

"Last one for tonight, Cid." I said, chastising him lightly.

"Aw, come on Teefs! I'm jut fine!" He said, attempting to sound normal.

"Cid, I don't want to have to kick you out. You're my friend, but I will if I have to." I said, placing my hands on my hips stubbornly.

This was normal, having to kick someone out because they drank their limit for the night. Sometimes I had to forcefully remove someone because they were disrupting and rude. I never liked kicking people out, but I _really_ didn't want to kick out Cid. We've been through so much together...

I sighed. I moved back over to an empty part of the bar table-top, and started to wipe the already spotless counter clean.

I looked at the clock, 2:41 a.m. Just A little bit longer till closing time.

My thoughts wandered upstairs, to the sleeping children in their beds. I sighed quietly, remembering their conversation they exchanged before getting in bed.

***

_"Marlene, what are you doing?" Denzel asked his "sister", who was sitting in the middle of her bed, arms wrapped protectively around her legs. _

_"I want Cloud to put me to bed." She said, sticking her bottom lip out in stubbornness._

_"Marley, you know he's at work." Denzel sighed, moving over to sit by her on her bed. She scooted closer to Denzel, wrapping her arms around him. He put his arms around her, trying to comfort her._

_Just then, Tifa came in, looking like she heard the what Marlene had said._

_She came over and sat on the end of Marlene's bed. Marlene let go of Denzel and flew on to Tifa's lap. Tifa wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close._

_"What's wrong, Marlene?" Tifa asked, stroking Marlene's hair out of her eyes._

"_I want Cloudy to put me to sleep, Tifa." The little girl complained. Denzel saw how Tifa's eyes softened slightly at the mention of Cloud. Even though she wouldn't admit it to him, and he definitely knew, Tifa was head over heels for him. Cloud, of course, was either oblivious or he completely ignored her. Which wasn't like Cloud at all. Cloud and Tifa knew each other as well as themselves, but it was nothing more than friendship for him._

_"Marley, you know he's at work right now." Tifa reminded her gently._

_"But why isn't he ever here?" She pouted._

_Tifa faked a smile. She almost looked happy, but Denzel could see that she was faking it._

_"Marley, you can see him in the morning when you wake up. But, you have to get to sleep, first." She said, kissing the top of her head. Marlene yawned, then slipped under her covers. By then, Denzel had found his own bed and collapsed, too tired to get under the covers. Tifa laughed silently, getting off of Marlene's bed to tuck the already asleep Denzel in. She went to the door to their room, looked over their peaceful faces, smiled, turned off the light and went downstairs to attend to her remaining customers._

***

I snapped out of my day-dream when the door opened and the bell rang. Everyone in the bar was too drunk to notice.

I looked up, to see a blond chocobo-haired man walking towards me. My heart fluttered slightly when I noticed his blue eyes focused on me. I noticed something, different, about his demeanor. He was walking taller, a little more emotion in his eyes, and a slight smile playing at his lips. I was confused. He was never like this. So, uplifted. Obviously, I had looked somewhat curious to Cloud, because he then asked, "What's wrong, Tifa?"

I swallowed. Just him saying my name made my stomach flip. "Nothing." I lied.

He looked at me and raised his eyebrow. Obviously knowing I was lying.

"What's up with you? You seem, happier, than usual." I admitted, looking him over. Surprisingly, I thought I saw him, blush? What was up with him?

"Well, you know I was hanging out with Aeris, right?" He asked. I flinched slightly. No, I didn't know he was. He told me that he was out making deliveries. I knew he had a crush on her. It was a hopeless one, too. She loved Zack, right? But he couldn't understand. Why waste your energy on a love that was going nowhere, right?

I was shocked and maddened to realize that I was talking about the both of us.

"No, I didn't know. You said you were out making deliveries!" I hissed at him. He looked taken aback. I felt smug.

"N-no! I told you I was going to deliver some packages and then meet her in the Church!" He said raising his arms up in defense.

I sucked in a breath to calm down. It wouldn't do any good to get mad at him. "Okay. You were with Aeris. So what?" I said, trying desperately to hold onto my fast growing anger. He looked away, looking embarrassed, and blushed? Again? What was up?

"Well, I kinda, uh, asked her out on a date. And she said yes." He said, smiling his own heart-breaking smile.


	2. Locking Her Heart

**Hello there! Sorry for the late update, had a bit of writer's block. I'll make sure to post new chapters sooner in the future. Time for me to stop rambling, so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII. Sadly. **

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**Thoughts**

**Chapter 2: Locking Her Heart**

For one unimaginably long moment, all I could process was _Aeris_, _date_ and _with Cloud_. I was extremely grateful that my face had frozen, or else he may have seen how much that hurt. I finally gained some composure, and managed a quick smile his way. "That's great, Cloud. When?" I said, attempting to sound normal.

For once, Cloud didn't notice my slip. He just kept smiling. "It's a lunch date, so, can you handle the kids by yourself?" He asked.

I wanted to hiss at him, " Of course I can handle the kids myself! I'm not a little child like Marlene or Denzel!" I breathed deeply, instead, I said, "Of course, I can handle the them myself." A little hurt that he didn't think I could watch over our "children".

He looked relieved, and said "Thanks, Teef." He then turned around and went upstairs.

I looked around, desperately trying to find something to take my mind off of what was happening. I saw a patron who was trying to flag me down without falling out of his stool. I sighed and went to him, gladly accepting any distraction.

Cloud

_I went up the stairs, two at a time. I almost ran to my room. I couldn't help but break into a small smile. I was going to have to clean up, but I could later. Right now, I was ecstatic. I couldn't believe she said yes! I felt like I could fly._

_Something kept nagging at me, something I couldn't place my finger on. Something seemed odd with Tifa. She looked weird for a few seconds back there...Then she was fine. _

_I sighed. It was probably nothing. My thoughts wandered back to Aeris, and I felt extremely happier. I got up, unable to sit still. I walked over to my closet, hoping to find something that wasn't black._

_As soon as I walked over to my closet, my door burst open. Seconds later, I was rammed into and thrown against the wall. I looked down. My face lightened slightly when I saw who it was. Which quickly faded when I saw their tiny, angry faces._

_"What did you do, Cloudy?" Marlene huffed, looking really angry. Denzel just helped her pin me to the wall, not saying anything. _

_I was too shocked to reply. I tried to remember the last time they were so angry with me. What had I done? I don't remember doing anything to upset them. Maybe being gone for a few days, I didn't get to say good-bye either, but that happened often. I was pretty upset that I didn't get to, of course, but the deliveries had to be taken then and there, so there really wasn't much time to say good-bye._

_"What?" I managed to get out. Their faces were looking more hurt than angry now._

_"Why did you make Tifa cry?" Marlene accused, hissing the word "cry" as it came out._

_Now I was confused. Me? I made Tifa cry? How? Now I really felt bad, what had I done?_

_"Wait, what? I made Tifa cry?" I asked, a little stunned. Now Denzel talked. "Why did you do it, Cloud? Why are you going out with Aeris? Don't you know? Don't you understand?" Denzel questioned me, looking really hurt._

_"I-I..." I couldn't answer them. Their questions felt like blows. So this was what it was about? Me taking Aeris out on a date? How would that make Tifa cry? I didn't understand. I don't know. _

_"What? I don't know, I don't understand." I said, suddenly very tired._

_Marlene suddenly burst into tears, pushing back from me, cowering on the floor. Denzel glared at me for a second longer and dropped down to his weeping sister. He put his arms around her, like the older brother he was and whispered in her ear._

_"Come on Marley, let's go help Tifa downstairs." He said pulling her to her feet. She sniffled, and let Denzel lead her out of my room. I didn't bother closing the door._

_I was...shocked? Angry? Hurt? I didn't know. My emotions didn't make any sense to me. My brain felt fried, and I was getting ready to fall over with sudden fatigue. I managed to push off the wall, and go over to my bed. I set the alarm to go off 8:00 a.m. I then fell on the bed, my last conscious thought, I'm sorry._

Tifa

I was cleaning a table-top that had beer spilled on it when Marlene and Denzel were coming down. I sniffled, trying to stop the tears that started spilling a while ago. I started walking back behind the bar. I stopped when I was in my safe haven where no one could come up to me. Denzel and Marlene hopped up on two of the stools, looking at me expectantly. "Yes?" I said, stopping to look at them.

My eyes immediately locked on Marlene's face, seeing the tear streaks going down her checks. I then found myself right beside her, on the opposite side of where I was.

I looked at her, my eyes screaming my worry, "Marley, what's wrong?" I asked anxiously, forgetting for a moment what made _me_ cry.

She looked at me carefully, deciding something.

"You can tell me." I assured her. She looked down, not meeting my gaze. She took a breath, "I was crying because..."Her eyes went to Denzel, looking as if she were asking him something. I was facing Marlene, so I didn't see what he said,"Denzel pushed me down. We were playing. He didn't mean to hurt me." She explained, rushing. I looked over at Denzel, who was glaring at Marlene, and nodded. I knew they were lying, but I didn't push it. I knew they would tell me when they were ready. So, I gave them both a quick squeeze, and went back to my cleaning.

After awhile of extensive cleaning I was beat tired. I was sitting in a booth, calculating the Gil I earned today with the cost of beer I've used. I sighed, putting down the paper and rubbing my fingers on my temples, exhaustion mixed with mathematical equations equaling a massive head-ache. I decided to finish this later, and go upstairs. I put the paper I was using back under the bar for whenever it crossed my mind again. I looked around at the spotless bar, thankful that everyone didn't have a problem when they had to leave. I trudged upstairs.

Before I went to take a quick shower, I sneaked a peek in the kid's room. They were sleeping soundly, Denzel laying haphazardly on his bed, while Marlene was in a tight ball on the bottom of hers. I laughed openly, glad to see for once some normality in the world.

I closed the door silently and went to my room, opening my dresser drawer and getting out a slightly over-sized T-shirt and shorts.

15 minutes later I was clean and the hot water heater was empty. I found my way to my bed, and sat on it. Suddenly, I wasn't so tired anymore. My thoughts wandered to a problem that, no matter how hard I try, wouldn't stop nagging me.

I wanted to not feel anything about Cloud and Aeris besides happiness. I tried not to care. Of course though, it didn't work. I really liked Aeris, obviously I wasn't alone there, I sighed. She was one of the few people who could read me in a heartbeat, like Cloud, until very recently. She knew what I was truly feeling, even when I didn't express it. What I really felt, though, was a deep stabbing pain in my chest. I pressed my hand to my heart, which was beating faintly faster.

After thinking, I came to the only conclusion I could think of that wouldn't hurt Cloud. I didn't want him to suffer because of me. So, I would hide my feelings, hide them well, and smile. Feigning happiness, I suppose. I'd have to work on my acting skills, I mused. They weren't the best. I would put on a brave face, and be happy for them. Or, at least pretend happiness.

I laid down, and rolled on my side. My plan would work, it had to work. I was gently lulled to sleep, trying not to pay notice to the tears falling down my face as I locked away my heart.

**--**

**Will Tifa follow her plan? Will Cloud even notice her strain? Read the next Chapter to find out! Reviews are appreciated! Thanks!**


	3. No Longer My Cloud

**Hello there! Ya, you! I know this is late. I really don't have an excuse. So, I will attempt to post new chapters sooner. Hate to say it, but school is starting in a few weeks, so it will be harder to post new chapters soon. But, I'll try. Time to stop rambling and let you read! R&R please!**

**Sorry about the mix up of the chapters. I don't know what went wrong. I probably clicked the second chapter to be the third. I do stuff like that all the time. So, sorry again, and here is the third chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII. Sigh.**

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**Thoughts**

**Chapter 3: No Longer My Cloud**

*******

_I was cleaning the table-tops with a wet rag when they walked in. I looked up reflexively, seeing who it was. My heart sank slightly seeing Cloud and Aeris's hands twined together. They came walking towards me, Aeris smiling brightly and Cloud's eyes smiling for him. I smiled, or, what could equivalent to a smile. "Hey, guys! What's up?" I asked as brightly as I could manage._

_They just stared, and started walking towards me again. Did they not hear me? I asked again, "Guys! What's wrong?"_

_Again, no answer. Okay, this was getting old. Why didn't they answer me? "Guys? Come on! Answer me! I'm right in front of you!" I very nearly screamed. Are they messing with me? Aeris wouldn't do that. Cloud neither. What was up? Is this some kind of sick joke? If it is, I'm _not_ enjoying it. I mean, come on, they were_ staring right at me_!_

_I was startled when I realized they weren't staring at me, but staring _through_ me. I looked down, I saw my hands balled into fists by my sides. So, why did they look like they were staring right through me? I was obviously here, visible. I walked up to them. I poked Cloud on the shoulder. I yelped and jumped back. Did I...? Did my hand just _go through his shoulder_? I was startled when they started talking._

_"Thanks, Cloud. I had fun." Aeris said, blushing slightly. She looked down, at her feet._

_"Yeah, me too. Well, good-night, Aeris." Cloud said, looking down also. He gave her hand a little squeeze, then released it. Aeris looked up, her eyes clouded over slightly, looking like she was debating something. She then suddenly looked up to Cloud's face, resolve clear in her eyes._

_"Cloud?" She asked, her blush deepening when he looked her in the eyes._

_"Yes, Aeris?" His face turning up to look at her._

_What happened next hurt me to no end. Aeris started leaning up, closing in on his face. He smiled, like an actual_ smile_, and started leaning in to her. I_ wanted _to look away, to run, _anything_, but, I couldn't. I was glued to the floor where I was standing, I tried to close my eyes, to save me the pain of what was coming. My chest already ached dully, knowing what was going to happen. I suddenly remembered how to close my eyes, and slammed them shut._

_A few moments later, a whir of air and I was standing tantalizingly close to someone. No, not _someone_. I'd forever know who this person is. Cloud breathed in, pulling back. I was close to him, when did I get here? Suddenly, I got the impression that I was where Aeris was...Trying to figure out what happened, I opened my eyes. Cloud was looking down at me, my stomach flipped. _

_"Good-night, Aeris." He breathed._

_***_

I shot up, breathing raggedly. I looked around, surprised to find myself in bed. My hands went up to my face to rub the sleep from them. I looked over at the clock on my bed-side table. It said 7:34 a.m. I decided it was an okay time to get up, because there was no way I'd be able to go back to sleep.

I stood up and stretched, and slowly trudged to the bathroom. When I got in there, I looked in the mirror._ God, I look awful, _I thought, not really caring. My face was paler than normal. My skin glistened a little from sweat. I ran my hand through my matted hair. Sighing, I turned on the water and filled my hands with the sharply cold water. Splashing the water on my face, I shivered slightly. Minerva, it felt _so good_. After the last droplets fell, I straightened, and began to brush my teeth and hair.

Just before I started to leave, I looked at myself in the mirror. I had to admit, even though my hair wasn't matted, and my face wasn't wet with sweat, I still looked horrid. My normally bright brown eyes were dull looking. I shook my head. I was going to have to be better than this. I turned toward the mirror, looking at it fully. I tried to smile. It looked a little strained. My face contorted into a frown. I smiled again. It was better...but not quite right. If Cloud was paying attention, he would surely notice. Then again, if he was anything like yesterday, this would be a breeze. My face, without me knowing it, turned into a grimace as a new thought popped into my head. _Why couldn't that be me in the dream?_

I shook the thought out. Of course that wasn't me. It would never be me. I was instantly saddened by that thought. I looked back up at the mirror and was angered to find my eyes dull again. I left the bathroom in a huff, somehow knowing that today wouldn't end well.

...30 Minutes Later...

I was flipping some eggs on the stove when I heard the stairs creaking. I instinctively looked over to see what caused the noise, even though I knew exactly who it was. Cloud came towards me, face content. I turned back towards the eggs, happy to do anything than watch him. When they were done, I downed them in cheese and sat down. I picked up a fork and started eating the egg. I didn't hear anything for a while, so I assumed he left. Well, at least until I heard footsteps coming up behind me. I tensed, waiting for him to speak.

"Tifa?" Cloud said, asking for my attention.

My eyes locked on his face for a moment, silently telling him I was listening, before I moved my eyes back to what I was eating. I could feel tension radiating from him.

"Uh, I'm going to go, er, get Aeris...need anything while I'm gone?" He stated, adding the last bit suddenly. I knew he felt guilty in leaving me here while he went of frolicking with Aeris. The truth of the matter was that I _wanted_ to stay here, caring for the bar, Marlene and Denzel. Well, that was what I was telling myself, anyway.

I turned towards him fully, hopeful that my eyes were innocent and truthful. My eyes always gave everything away. "Nah, if I need anything I can go out and get it. And...have fun." I said, mentally slapping myself for not sounding more genuine. Even Yuffie could've heard the strain in my voice when I said that. Mercifully, Cloud didn't notice it, or maybe he just didn't want to push me. Whichever way, I was relieved and slightly troubled. Normally, when I lied, he would catch it and call me out on it. Only once or twice has he ever not caught me lying, and even then he would catch me later. It saddened me that he was so oblivious to my lying. That he was distracted enough not to--

I stopped my line of thought right then and there, not wanting to burst into tears on the spot. Suddenly, even to my own surprise, I squared my gaze in his eyes. He just stared back, unable to do anything else. I searched his eyes, looking for something, _anything_ relatively close to the Cloud I knew once. After a while of vain searching, I turned my gaze away from him. I didn't find anything of the person I once knew. Once_ loved_. I looked into his eyes again, and said, "Have fun." then turned to walk back behind the bar. When I looked for him, he was no where in sight. I found, with shock, that I meant what I just so boldly told Cloud.

While pondering what that meant, I went to keep my hands busy while my mind was in over drive. And, for a while at least, everything was normal, or at least seemed normal. I could pretend that nothing happened, that My Cloud was off making deliveries, and would come home tonight and help me clean up the bar. For once, that was enough.

Well, until _he_ came.

**--**

**Sorry. I needed to stop right there. I'll post the next chapter up as soon as I can. Promise. So, thanks and review, please! ^_^**


	4. Don't Change

**Hello strangers! I know, I know. I took forever to update. I'm sorry! My mom's laptop was broken, but now it's fixed! Yay. Now me and my cousin can use it again! This chapter is longer, so hopefully that'll make up for it. Well, here it is!**

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**Thoughts**

**Chapter 4: Don't Change**

I was getting ready to go upstairs to get Marlene and Denzel up, when the door to the bar opened. My eyes shot over to it, a sliver of hope growing that it was My Cloud coming back in. Before it could grow much, I saw it was some tall, bald random man. My hope was squashed, and was replaced with annoyance. Couldn't he read? We're not open. I sighed, he was just probably looking for a place to get good and drunk. "Sir? Did you not see the sign? We're closed. We open at 6:00." I said, a little of my frustration leaking into my voice. I covered it up with a smile. He looked at me, not moving.

I was really getting mad at him, if he didn't know what was good for him, he'd leave before I threw him out. I looked him in the eye, making my words more forceful. "Sir, please leave, now. We aren't open." I said though locked teeth. He didn't catch me in a good mood. He finally spoke, "Well, I'm not exactly here for a drink."

His words immediately put me on the defensive, my hands shot reflexively to my back pocket, where my gloves were. I breathed in deeply, attempting to calm my already wound tight nerves. I didn't put them on just yet, I didn't want to hurt some guy who wasn't, at least yet, a threat to us. I tried to read him, see what he wanted, but to no such luck. His posture didn't give anything away.

"So, what are you here for?" I asked, getting a bad vibe from him. He just smirked at me, taking a step towards me. I instinctively took a step back. "Do you know where Cloud is? He's the reason I came here, and I know he lives here, so don't lie." He said, getting to the point, not playing anymore.

I huffed in anger. Somehow, Cloud was working his way into my thoughts a lot more today than I wanted. "He's not here. He left." I said simply, not trying to hide my anger.

"Well, if he's not here, where is he?" He asked, some of his annoyance leaking into his voice.

"Out. On a date." I said stiffly. I didn't want to have to say it. I cringed slightly when he smirked.

"Is he now? So, why are you here? Aren't you his girl?" He asked, pushing my buttons. My angered peaked, I let out a little hiss, way too low for him to hear. He was leaving, _now_. "I think it's time for you to go, sir. You have no business here." I said, attempting nonchalance. He just smirked at me, not moving an inch. I put my gloves on, he didn't seem to notice.

"Well, is that so? I was enjoying our visit, and you went and ruined it. If you're gonna be like that, then I guess I have to cut our visit short." He said, pulling out what looked to be a very long, double-sided sword. I managed to hide the gasp that worked its way up my throat. He crouched down, looking ready to kill.

I put my hands in front of my face, waiting for him to make a move. When he didn't, I decided to try and surprise him, as unlikely as that was. I faked right, and then rushed to the left, getting a punch to his stomach. He grunted softly, jumping back out of my reach. He lunged towards me, one end of his sword pointing at my stomach. I jump up and over him, using him as the leverage I needed, and pushed off of him, momentarily sending him down to the ground, dazed. He dropped his weapon, which I took advantage to. I lurched forward, grabbing at it. He was quicker. He got it and rammed it into my arm, just above the elbow. I sharp blow of pain shot through my arm, but I kept the gasp in. I hissed instead, looking up at him. He smiled evilly at me.

"Can't have you taking Thanatos from me, now can I?" He said his grin widening. The name rung a bell, but I didn't know where it's from. I struggled to pull my arm back, but only managed to pull the skin even more, making me intake a breath, forcing down the cry of pain that came up my throat. He withdrew his sword, pulling back. Before he got any farther, I punched him in the face with my right hand, the one that wasn't hurt. My fist connected with his nose, giving me a satisfying crack. He lurched forward, one hand on his nose, the other gripped into a fist, Thanatos forgotten. I tried to avoid his attack, but he managed to hit me in my shoulder, making me fly back. I hit the wall and fell to the ground with a dull thud.

"Crap." I said under my breath. He just broke a stool! If I don't get him out of here soon, Seventh Heaven will be completely destroyed! I grunted, and stood up, facing him.

"What the hell do you want? Who are you anyways?" I meant to sound brave and collected when I said it, but it came out airy and maddened. He just chuckled, seemingly his goal was to annoy the hell out of me.

"Well, I already know you, so it sounds fair to introduce myself. My name is Zanaku, and I'm the leader of the Under-worlders. The great group of people to help our world out of the dark times. We will usher in an era of rulers and peace!" Zanaku said, his voice oozing with authority and righteousness.

"So, how does attacking me '_usher in an era of peace_?'" My voice dripping with sarcasm while quoting him, "Cloud saved the world, now you want to kill him?" I said, putting two-and-two together finally. He didn't come here for some crazy assassin mission, he came for Cloud. I needed to get help, because if he was a leader of some organization, he was bound to have backup.

My thoughts went to the sleeping kids upstairs, making me even more determined to get him out, or at least unconscious. With a burst of adrenaline, I shot forward towards him, grabbed his weapon right out of his hands, and snapped it in half with my foot. I was surprised it broke so easily, I wasn't expecting it to break at all, really. I just thought I'd give it a shot.

He looked, shocked, to say the least. I felt almost smug. "Why you little…" Zanaku hissed at me, at a lose for words. I smirked. His hand reached out and smacked my face. Hard. My eyes stung and my ears were ringing. He then continued to pick me up and throw me down on a table, snapping it in half, which didn't help my head one bit. I stood up, and stumbled around the broken table, backing away out of his reach. I wiped blood off my face, and grimaced as the pain made its way into my thoughts. I glared at him, he just stood straight and crossed his arms, practically _daring_ me to attack him.

I started around him, trying not to limp. When I saw an opening, I lunged forward, my only hope for laying a finger on him by taking him by surprise. I did. My foot colliding in his gut, knocking him down. I take the opportunity. My foot smashes down in the small of his back when he tried to get up, smacking his face back down in the ground. His eyes rolled into his head, and then his mouth fell slack. He was unconscious. _Finally_. I breathed a sigh of relief, and picked up my foot slowly, seeing if he was faking it. He wasn't. Thank Minerva it didn't go any farther than that, I wouldn't have lasted much longer. The pain rocketed through my whole body, reminding me that I was hurt. I winced as another wave came.

Walking, well limping, to behind the bar, I went for the phone, hoping someone would pick up. I tried calling Cloud. After three rings it went dead. I cursed under my breath. Great, his phone was off. A small part of my brain connected the fact that he never turns his phone off, _never_. I shook that thought out, having no time to ponder what it meant.

I didn't know who else to call. Yuffie was too far away to even consider calling for help. Barret and Cid went for a joyride in _Shera_, and I didn't know when they'd be home. Vincent still didn't have a phone. Aeris' phone was probably off, too. So that left no one.

Just when I put down the phone, my hand froze. There was one person I hadn't tried. As soon as I thought about him my heart sank, if that was even possible now. The last time I saw him, we had a major fight. I feel completely responsible, and stupid for getting angry over something so dumb. I fingered the keys, considering. A wave of pain that almost had me crumpling to the ground came over me, and I though, _what do I have left worth losing?_ I remembered the unconscious man down-stairs, and that pushed me to finger in the number of the man that I suddenly needed.

_Ring...Please pick up._

_Ring...Please don't be mad._

_Ring...I'm sorry_.

It stopped ringing in the middle of one. A familiar childlike voice came on, forcing a grin on my face, " Hello?" His voice was a little rough. I probably woke him up, which made my grin widen.

" Hi Zack. I...I need your help." I finally said, sounding like a child admitting to something shameful.

"And who exactly needs my help?" He asked, his voice slowly returning to normal. I had to admit, it stung a little that he didn't know who I was, but it was soon oblivious to the now constant pain through my entire body. I swallowed the gasp forming in my mouth, not wanting him to already see that I'm in bad shape.

"It's...it's Tifa, Zack, and I need your help. Please." I whispered, desperately hoping he wouldn't hang up. There was no sound except for our breathing. " Are you still there?" I asked.

"...Ya, I'm still here." He said after a few seconds, his voice slightly gruff. He was definitely still mad. I took my chances, "Zack? I'm sorry. I know you have no reason to help me, and I'm in no position to ask, but...I really need your help. I can't get anyone else on the phone. Please?" I asked again, sounding really desperate, and, for the moment, I just didn't care. I needed help, and that made me determined to not just hang up the phone in embarrassment.

"Well, it's not _all_ your fault, Teefs." he said, pushing my buttons and knowing it, he continued, "Sure, why not? I'll help ya. Meet you at the bar?" He asked, his voice sincere and truthful. I was stunned into silence, wondering what made him forgive me so quickly. Maybe he was just tired of arguing. I know I was. So I smiled and answered him, "Ya. See you soon." And hung up. I stared at the phone for a few minuets, just thinking. What did it mean that my heart beat suddenly faster when I heard his voice? Or, couldn't help but smile whenever we talked? What did it mean that I would blush slightly whenever he touched me? It angered me that he could bring these reactions out of myself, to know that I liked him more that a friend. I mentally slapped myself, thinking what a fool I sounded like. He's my _friend_, for Minerva's sake. _Nothing more_.

With a jolt, I remembered there was an unconscious man downstairs, and he'll probably wake up soon. I shot up, running from the room and down the stairs and suddenly crumpling on the stairs when a wave of pain rocketed through my body because I moved too quickly. I cursed under my breath because I couldn't think twice about sudden movements to save my life.

When I finally made my way to the bar, I cringed at the site. The bar was _totally_ trashed. I looked around, checking to see how much damage there was. There were two broken stools, a booth sliced in half, and blood everywhere. I sighed, knowing how long this will take to clean up. My eyes went to where the man was, and I froze. Did he just..._move_? He shifted again and moaned. I held my breath, hoping he was just moving in his sleep. All the while though, I feverishly hoped Zack would hurry his butt up, because if he woke up before Zack got here, we both would know I'm no match. I exhaled, and breathed in, trying, to calm my nerves and not focus on the waves of pain wracking my body. I focused on taking my gloves off, and wrapping a stray towel around my arm, trying to stop the bleeding.

Luckily I wasn't squeamish around blood, or I wouldn't have lasted through my first battle. A dizzy spell suddenly over-powered me, forcing me to sink to the ground. I focused on breathing in and out, never once moving my eyes from Zanaku.

After a little bit of breathing and watching, I heard a car engine roaring down the street, and it was obviously Zack. I heard the engine cut off and a door slam. I tried to stand up, but failed when my feet refused to move, I slumped back down as the bar door opened. I looked up finally to see a tall, raven haired man standing in front of me.

"Hey." I said weakly. Pathetic. He was looking in my eyes, and smirked. "Hey." he said, his voice unreadable. He looked me over, and his eyes went wide.

"What the _hell_, Tifa? How did this happen?" he asked me, looking me over again, his eyes somewhat frantic.

I didn't feel up for an explanation, so I motioned with my head to Zanaku, and to the damage to the bar. He gasped, eyes going over the man's profile and coming back to me, questions wild in his eyes.

I sighed, working an explanation out in my head before I began, "His names Zanaku, don't ask, because I don't know what it means. He said he was the leader of some group called, the "Under-worlders" which I've never heard of. He came looking for Cloud. Since he wasn't here, he decided to attack me, just for kicks." I said, sarcasm leaking into my voice. I took a deep breath, not wanting to take out my anger and hurt on Zack. He looked at me, puzzled. I continued, "He said he wanted the world to be at peace, but he's going about it in the wrong way. Let's just say, he's _bad news_. He's going to wake up soon, too." I explained. He looked at me funny, like there was something I didn't think of.

"What?" I asked, not liking the way he looked at me, or the reaction it gave me.

"So, why are ya sitting here and not cleaning up? He asked, a little humor in his voice. Leave it to him to crack a joke to ease the tension, even though, it didn't really bother me.

"I needed your help with that, too." I said, my embarrassment making my face flush. He was still looking at me funny. "What?" I asked him, sure he was going to tell me anyways.

"Well, why did you fight him? You coulda just run away." he mumbled, sounding like a parent scolding a child.

When he said that, well, I snapped. I shot up, and surprisingly, I didn't feel the stab of pain I expected, the surprise didn't hold me long though, because I blew up at him, "You ask why I didn't run away?" I screeched at him, he looked shocked, to say the least, about my outburst. I continued, "Because of the two sleeping kids upstairs! Ya, Marlene and Denzel? Remember them? 'Cuz nobody else seems to! I couldn't run away! I had to fight! For their sake! 'Cuz nobody else seems to care! They just work around us! _Everyone!_ They can't _see_ us anymore! _Why can't Cloud __**see**__ me!?_" I yell right in his face, absolutely _fuming_. Then after a few moments of silence, I realized what I just said, and my anger was suddenly gone. I cover my mouth, and gasp, feeling like it doesn't belong to me. Like it's not connected to my brain. Anything to think that those words were not mine. I look up at Zack guiltily. Then, feeling even worse when he looks like he was slapped.

"Zack. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that. I guess I've been under some pressure lately, and uh, I kinda snapped. Sorry, I took out my anger on you." I said, my futile attempt to be forgiven just _after_ I was forgiven in vain.

"No kiddin'." he said, laughing. I sighed, relief flooding through me. Zack could never stay upset for long. The pain came flooding back into my awareness, making me stagger, and going head first for the floor. Zack's arm shot out to catch me reflexively, but I lost my balance anyway and fell onto him. We ended up on the ground, me under him and him sprawled out on me. My face was inches from his. My body was on fire wherever we touched. I blushed, knowing he felt it, too. "Sorry." I whispered, barely audible. He looked like he was fighting laughter. A few seconds later, so was I. I looked at him, and our eyes locked. Then we burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

After I was gasping for air, and grabbing my sides because it hurt after laughing, I wondered idly when the last time it was when I could actually _laugh_, and not fake it. I couldn't remember. He stood up, reaching his hand down to me. An offering. I took it. Standing up and wincing slightly, hoping he wouldn't notice. He did. He pulled me towards the only bathroom, upstairs.

When we got there, he pushed me down on the counter, running his fingers over the gash on my arm. The towel I had wrapped around my arm served it's job, but was becoming loose. Zack shook his head, and before he could ask, I answered his unspoken question, "Zanaku's weapon." trying to sound nonchalant, while just the memory of it sent cold shiver down my spine. He reached for the disinfectant.

Since Cloud was always coming home with new wounds, we were always stocked up on disinfectant and bandages. I winced slightly when he prodded at the skin. And hissed when he sprayed the wound. Twice. I sighed in pleasure as warm water rushed over my arm, watching as the blood went down the drain, and didn't move my arm until nothing besides water was still going down. Zack wrapped my arm in a bandage.

I looked up into his eyes, seeing deep concern and slight horror in them. "What?" I asked, wanting to know what was wrong.

"You really didn't even stop to think about yourself, did you? Did you not once think you could have been killed? Didn't you care?" He asked in a tender, caring voice. For once he was serious.

"Well, considering the circumstances, all I could think about were the sleeping kids upstairs, and how I couldn't die because then he'd get to them." I said, slight sarcasm seeping into my voice. It wasn't that big a deal.

"Tifa, you never change." He said, laughter in his voice.

"Everyone else seems to, though." I mumbled, a dull sting running through my chest. I looked up at him, surprised to see his eyes clouded over slightly, looking like he was debating something. I began to feel the emotions I was trying to suppress coming back, so I began getting off the sink, and I was surprised when a tan arm shot out, pushing me back, and holding me here.

"Uh...Zack? I need to check on the kids." I stated, but the arm didn't move. I couldn't think of it as _his_ arm. It would push me over the edge. I looked up to his eyes, and did a double take.

His eyes were no longer clouded, but hot with raw emotion. He put his hand lightly on my waist, leaving it there. I couldn't breath. I couldn't really even think. My thoughts circulating between his warm hands and his burning eyes.

"Tifa? Don't change." He whispered, his low voice causing my heart to jolt.

"I won't" I whispered, just before I felt the press of his lips on mine.

**--**

**Ooo. Cliff-hanger. Sorry. Had to stop it there, or else it woulda been to long. I'll try to update sooner. R&R please!**

**If you're wondering where Thanatos and Zanaku came from, Thanatos is the Greek God Of Death, and Zanaku means 'evil' in Japenese.**


	5. My Perfect World

**Here ya go! I know it's later than I wanted, but I had some trouble. I guess I'll say this now. Since school is starting this week (at least for me) I won't be able to update as soon as I want to. So, I guess, expect later updates than usual. At least for the begining weeks. **

**Also, I should mention something else. My awsome beta, ObsessiveCompulsiveValkyrie, for editing this chapter. Check out her stories! Especially Tangled Web, which is awsome!**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill. Don't own FFVII. Sigh.**

**Thanks!**

**--**

**Thoughts**

**Chapter 5: My Perfect World**

I couldn't think. Could barely breath for that matter. All I could do was _feel_. _Feel_ his smoldering lips on mine. The heat radiating from him was exhilarating. I felt the need to breath. I fought it as long as I could, then I broke off, gasping. I heard him intake a breath raggedly.

I looked up into his eyes, any barrier hiding his emotions was long since broken. Emotions played across his face, happiness, apprehension, fear... After a few moments of silence, he started to look worried. He spoke, "Was that...okay?" his voice was filled with such worry and stress that I reached up and stroked his face reassuringly. A small smile played at the corners of my mouth. For some reason, I couldn't look into his eyes, which left me looking at my now bandaged arm.

"Tifa." Zack said my name as a statement, making me reflexively look up at him. "Are you okay?" he asked me, forcing a full blown laugh out of me. After I was done, he looked at me, as if afraid for my sanity.

"For the first time in a long time, I think I am," I said truthfully. He looked like he was about ready to kiss me again, but just then, a small voice asked, "What happened to Tifa?"

My eyes shot over to where Marlene was, her hair ruffled from sleep. I saw she was clutching a stuffed bear Cloud got for her. My good mood suddenly crashed as I thought about exactly how I got the wound. I glanced over at Zack, who was studying me. I quickly looked back at her, taking a deep breath as I wondered how I would explain it to her for her to understand.

"It was an accident, Marley. I'm okay though. How about you go get your brother up and then I can make something for you guys to eat." I said while getting off the counter, wincing slightly as I put weight on my bruised legs. Marlene nodded, and left to get Denzel. Before he could ask, I said, "I didn't want them to get scared, Zack. I'll tell Cloud whenever he gets home." He didn't say anything else, so I just started down the stairs, my mood falling with each step I took.

***

An hour later I had the kids fed, somehow managing to come up with an excuse for the wrecked bar. After they had gone out to play, Zack and I were cleaning up the bar. I checked the clock, it read 12:35, and we were so far from done. We cleaned up the booth and the stools, but the blood was a completely different story. Zanaku got _sleep_ casted on him, but we tied him up, just in case. My whole body ached from lifting and cleaning. I didn't say anything, though. I wasn't just going to sit down and watch Zack do everything. I was thankful that he was still here, helping.

After I lifted a particularly heavy piece of wood, I remembered I had to write something. I walked behind the bar, and took out a piece of paper and pen. I wrote,_ "Bar closed for the rest of the week. Open at regular time on Monday."_ I stuck it on the bar door, then turned back to the nearly clean room. Zack put his hand in around my arm, holding me back. I looked at him in question.

"Tifa, you're hurt. Let me clean the rest up." I was just about to argue, but he cut in before I could get anything out. "no arguing, Teefs. Go sit down, kay'?" Zack ordered, pointing towards a stool. I was going to argue anyways, but I decided not to, knowing he wouldn't let it go.

I walked over to the stool, and sat down. I watched Zack clean up the bar, and my thoughts wandered to Cloud.

_Cloud_. I sighed. Of course he would find out about the kiss Zack and I shared. I wondered if he would care. Probably not, but it still felt like I was cheating on him. I shook that thought out of my head, because it was absurd. Absolutely impossible. I couldn't be cheating on him, because we were never together. In the back of my head though, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was.

***

Zack finished up the bar in record time. When I joked about it with him, he had a glimmer in his eyes when he said, "So I could spend more time with you, Teefs." Which of course made me blush.

Since there was no more work to be done with at the moment, we just sat around and talked. Minerva, it's been so long since I just stopped and _talked_ to someone. Normally, no one's here, because Cloud's always making deliveries, and when he gets home he just goes upstairs to his room. Having someone pay a sliver of attention to you, and actually caring, is the greatest feeling in the world.

Zack was explaining a conversation with someone he had, and he made the funniest faces when he was saying what the man told him, which made me burst into hysterical giggles.

I nearly doubled over in laughter when he stopped short and stared at me like I was crazy. Tears started streaming down my face, as I clutched my sides, gasping to breath. It hurt to laugh, but at the moment I couldn't help it. I looked at Zack, who had broken into a goofy grin.

After I could stifle the laughter, we fell into comfortable silence. He was fiddling with a stray piece of my hair, and I was content just to stare at his eyes. They were disturbingly bright, unnaturally blue, a result of the enhancements by mako.

When I saw Cloud for the first time after he had been injected by mako, I couldn't look him in the eyes, because they always made me think about what he and Zack had gone through, and thinking about that sent cold shivers down my back and put me in a bad mood. After a while though, I started to think not about what he went though, but how that had made him stronger. Physically _and_ mentally. I tried to see the good side of it, but there really wasn't one. Except him saving the world, of course.

They didn't bother me anymore. I could stare into his eyes forever, which sounds cliché, but true. They entranced me, pulled me in.

Before I was completely lost, I turned away, looking at the still tied up, and still very much asleep, Zanaku. Zack and I decided to figure out what to do with him once Cloud came home, which could still be awhile.

For whatever reason, I couldn't look him in the eyes anymore. I thought nothing of it, not really, except for the fact that they made me think of Cloud.

Zack cupped his palm around my face, trying to get me to face him. I finally caved in, looking at him, but not exactly in the eyes.

"Tifa." he said my name as a statement, not a question, but still asking me to look at him. I finally moved my eyes from his nose to his glowing blue ones wordlessly.

We stayed like that, just staring at each other. Not moving. Not talking. Just staring, until his lips came down on mine, that is.

I tangled my hands in his already messy hair, pulling him closer. He wrapped his arms around my waist, enveloping me in intense, but not bad, heat. After a few more seconds, I pulled away and gasped, trying to get the breath back that had been knocked out of me. Zack pulled back too, but didn't remove his hands. I could feel his burning eyes on my face.

I looked back up at him, a bright blush on my face. Which, of course, made him smirk. My blush deepened embarrassingly. To cover it up, I raised my hand and hit him on the arm playfully.

He looked up at me, with an obvious fake hurt look on his face, grabbing his arm for good measure. I couldn't help the laugh that burst from me. After a few more seconds Zack joined in.

After a few more minutes, the laughter stopped. I had no idea how I looked, or even how big the smile on my face was, but I didn't care. I felt happy. Like, truly happy. Zack got up and said he was going to go get Marlene and Denzel to come home, gave a quick kiss to my cheek, and disappeared out the door.

I got up off the stool and walked over to Zanaku, who was breathing in and out smoothly, still asleep. I was in a state of happiness, floating. I thought everything was perfect just by having Zack hold me so lovingly, even if just for a moment.

My perfect world of Zack and kisses was shattered when Zanaku suddenly stood up, breaking free from his bindings effortlessly, grabbed me by my neck, and yanked me up in the air, while I was frozen in place by shock.

And, slowly, lack of air.

**--**

**Had to leave it at that. Sorry. Reviews are much appreciated!**

**-Tora**


	6. Something Changed

**OMG! A update! Did ya think I went poof? Nope! The reason I haven't been able to update can be sumed up into one word:school. So, kudos to mu awsome Beta, Miss. Valkyrie over there. So, here it is, and sorry for the late update!**

**Also, I apologize for mispelling 'Valkyrie.' I think I fixed it.**

**Disclaimer: Sigh. I'm gonna get it eventually.**

**--**

**Thoughts**

**Chapter 6: Something Changed**

For a few heavenly moments, I didn't feel anything. After I looked at Zanaku's face, which was just inches from mine, he smirked and squeezed tighter. Then, I felt it, felt _everything_. He was squeezing so hard on my neck, leaving a bruise no doubt. I focused on that for a little bit, but, slowly, another pain made it's way into my thoughts. I had to breathe. I gasped involuntarily, but all I managed to do was lose the breath I was holding.

Zanaku laughed. Flat out laughed at my pain. I tried to escape out of his clutches, but his grip was tight. I shot my knee up, earning a grunt of pain in response. His grip loosened ever so slightly, which gave me a chance to inhale a quick breath, and let it out in a wailing scream. Zanaku quickly tightened his hold on my neck, choking my siren sound in the process. It didn't matter, though. I made some sound, and Zack had to have heard it. He _had_ to.

I waited. Time practically slowing down. My heartbeat was ringing in my ears, forcing me to know just how much time had passed, and Zack still wasn't here. Still not here. As if Zanaku could hear my thoughts, he said, "He didn't hear you, sweetie," he whispered softly, unlike his normal voice, "no one ever hears you. Don't you want to just let go? Have all the pain just wash away?"

I shook my head as best as I could, given the circumstances. I tried to gasp in another breath, but I couldn't, he was squeezing too tightly. I writhed, trying to squirm out of his hold, but it was rock solid. Made of steel. I tried pushing him away, but lack of oxygen and the fact that my whole body was screaming at me, I wasn't strong enough. I tried kicking him in the gut, but all he did was wince almost imperceptibly. "That ain't gonna work on me now, hon'," he cooed at me. He continued to say meaningless words to get me to, 'let go' or 'give in.' The truth was though, which I was scared to admit to anyone, that I _was _letting go. I _was_ giving in. My head began to feel foggy and clouded. I couldn't focus on anything. My panic and pain began to subside, and wash away, just like he promised.

He whispered encouragements to me. I felt free, like I was floating. I felt _whole_. My mind was becoming incoherent, but it didn't matter. My vision started to fade, and I smiled. I was free and floating, nothing was wrong.

An instinct buried deep within me, one that could not be touched, or broken, was awakening. Awakening myself again. Telling me to fight! To not just _give in!_ Why shouldn't I, though? What was worth fighting for now? Pictures started flying through my mind. I tried to focus on them, but I couldn't. Why couldn't I? I furrowed my brows, desperately trying to get a hold of something that was slipping away, like sand.

I noticed a dull burn in my chest, what was that? At first it wasn't uncomfortable, but a few heartbeats later, the burn began to worsen, I squirmed. Why was I burning?

The pictures suddenly went in focus, and I saw what my subconscious was trying to tell me. A picture of when Sephiroth was just defeated, the one I'd remember forever.

It was one of everyone. _Everyone_. Cloud, Yuffie, Vincent, Barret... Even Marlene and Denzel were there. Cloud was deeply injured, but you could still see the happiness in his eyes. _Those_ were the people worth fighting for.

I suddenly knew what was happening. Everything snapped back into focus. I knew what I needed to do. Resolve clouded the fact that I was incredibly weak, and desperately needed air. I drew up my arm and focused all my energy into putting some force into my punch. I pulled my arm back, and, gritting my teeth, I snapped it forward, hitting Zanaku in the neck. He gasped, but his hold didn't loosen at all. Nothing.

"Your desperation is nothing compared to my strength," he stated, emotionless except for a slight smug smile. He sounded far away.

I let my hand fall back down. My only chance of survival slipping though my hands again. My mind became fuzzy. Like it had before. My vision blurred. From tears or lack of air, I couldn't tell.

Just as I thought I was going to pass out, I saw a fuzzy hand in front of my face, promptly knocking Zanaku's hands around my neck away. I crumpled to the ground, to stunned to pull in the breath I needed. My already fuzzy vision blurred even more. I couldn't comprehend what just happened, or who saved my life. Even after I knew I needed a breath, it was too late. My world spun once again, then went black.

**Cloud**

_I was driving back from my lunch date with Aeris, my whol__e __being brightened. I was on an emotional high ever since she said yes to a dinner date tonight. Normally, it would've been tomorrow night, but she had something that night, which she didn't tell me and I didn't care to pry._

_I passed houses, counting them until I turned onto my street. I saw passed Marlene and Denzel playing at a __friend's __house outside in the front yard, running around, laughing and shrieking. I couldn't help the small smile that played at my mouth, unusually just plain happy for no good reason. Then I passed someone who was jogging in the street, running opposite than me. He had spiky black hair, and paler than anything. I glanced at his face, and I saw that familiar scar right on his cheek-_

_Wait. What the _hell?_ I idled Fenrir, and looked back at the man I just passed. He didn't even glance at me. On instinct, I called to the man, "Zack?"_

_He stopped running, and turned around to face me. Confusion clouded his eyes, then, a spark of recognition. He called back to me, "Spiky!" in his familia__r, trademark child-like voice.__ He__ ran back towards me, and nearly tripped over his own two feet. That was definitely Zack. I cracked a grin. "Hey, Zack. What got you in the neighborhood?" I asked, genuinely interested, not just being polite._

_His eyes clouded with an emotion I couldn't decipher, but as soon as it showed up, it disappeared, being replaced by humor. "I decided to come visit you, guys. Shiva knows how long it's be__en since I've seen you and Tifa__,__" he laughed, but it sounded a bit forced. I shook off the feeling, knowing I was just being paranoid._

"_I know, it's been too long. Where're you heading to?" I asked._

"_Tifa asked me to get the kids. Oh, ya! Tifa 'n I need to talk to you. It's really important." he said, some seriousness leaking into his voice._

_I was about to ask what it was about, but right then, I heard a blood-curdling scream. It raised the hairs on my arms. I looked over at Zack, whose eyes were as wide as saucers. I locked eyes with him. He whispered, "It came from the bar. Tifa!" he screamed the last part, and it broke into my senses. Without even asking, Zack jumped on Fenrir behind me, and looked at me expectingly. I let it go, revved the engine, and took off towards the bar._

_When we got there, I jumped off of Fenrir, letting it just fall to the ground in my hurry, and flat-out ran to the bar door._

_I was momentarily distracted by a sign on the door, it read, "Bar closed for the rest of the week. Open at regular time on Monday." A question kept repeating in my head: why would Tifa close the bar? Over and over again. I had a sinking feeling about why she would._

_Zack brought me back to my senses by poking me in the back. I sucked in a breath and opened the bar door._

_The first thing I saw was the pile of wood stacked in the corner, and the booth and stools missing. I was about to ask what the hell happened, but then my eyes ran over some bald man, holding someone by the neck. No. It wasn't just someone, it was Tifa._

_He was facing opposite from us, so he hadn't seen us yet. I glanced back at Zack, who looked as stunned as I was, but that didn't last for long. Pure hatred coursed through my veins, making my vision flash red. One look at Tifa and I knew I had to act fast. Her eyes were clouded over, and her body was twitching with lack of oxygen. I shot forward, breaking his hold on her with my arm. She collapsed to the ground. The man spun around to face me, eyes filled with rage. "Who dares mess wi-?!" I cut it off by a punch to the mouth._

_Just for the__ hell of it, I answered, "Me." __T__hen I punched him in the nose. It looked like it was already broken, and I just caused more damage to it. He howled in rage and pain, and hit me in the gut. I grunted, and backed out of his reach._

_I heard Zack call, "She's not breathing!"_

_I replied, "Take care of Tifa, I'll handle..." I trailed of__f, not sure of what to call hi__m._

_Zack replied, "Zanaku."_

_I just nodded, not bothering to correct myself._

_Just then, Zanaku came towards me, I rolled to the side, avoiding his attack. Before he could collect himself enough to try and strike again, I made do with my hands, not thinking to take my swords when I went out with Aeris. I got him in the gut, and he crumpled to the ground, groaning. I kicked him again, not wasting any time. He passed out._

_I went over to where Tifa fell, and I saw that Zack was officially freaking out. I dropped down, panic replacing anger. I put two of my fingers to her neck, checking for a pulse. After a few seconds, I felt one. Then it faltered. A very faint pulse, but still a pulse. Tifa was alive, thank Minerva._

_I knew what had to be done, so I asked Zack, "Zack, do you know C.P.R?" He looked at me like I was crazy._

"_What? I don't freakin' know the basics!" he told me, voice and eyes frantic._

_As soon as he said it, I knew I had to __do __it. I scooted over to where Tifa's head was, telling Zack to hold her head straight. I didn't have time to be embarrassed that I was basically kissing my best friend, even though it was heating my face up to an uncomfortable degree._

_Without thinking, because I couldn't, I pressed my lips to Tifa's, blowing air into her mouth. Her chest rose up ever so slightly. I pulled away and pressed against her chest, then I repeated. Blow and press. Blow and press. I couldn't tell you how many times I did that routine, because I lost count._

_Right before I was going to give up, no matter how hard that may be, I heard her gasp ever-so-slightly, and then again. Another gasp. I pressed my hand to the base of her neck, and her pulse was a little stronger, and it kept a steady beat. I sighed in relief. She was alive._

_Tifa let out a soft, strangled moan, shifting slightly. I looked up at her face, __and I watched her eyes open hal__f-__way, barely any life in them. Her eyes were unfocused for a few seconds, looking like they were searching for something. I squeezed the hand that was closest to me, and her eyes immediately focused on mine._

_I'm scared to admit, but for the few seconds that our eyes locked, something happened.__ S__omething...__changed. As soon as it happened, it was over. She looked over at Zack, then cracked a grin, signaling that she was, 'okay.'_

"_Hey__,__" she croaked out. Zack had let out a breath he had been holding. The corners of my mouth w__ere __tempting to turn up. She looked back at me. I replied, "Hey."_

**Tifa**

When I first opened my eyes, I couldn't focus on anything. Then Cloud squeezed my hand lightly. My eyes immediately went to his practically glowing ones staring intently at me. I almost squirmed under his scrutiny, but managed to stay still. I locked eyes with his, trying to silently tell him I was alright. When I did, though, something unexpected happened. I didn't know what it was, but something between us _changed_. No, that wasn't the right word. Moved? Shifted? Somehow, the way we looked at each other changed.

As soon as I noticed it, I found I was then staring at Zack, who looked a little green. A small smile played at my lips, and Zack let out a breath he was holding.

I looked back towards Cloud, not making eye contact, and said, "Hey." Just to top things off, it sounded weak and strangled. His mouth curved into what could be inferred as a smile. "Hey," he replied.

Silence fell over our group. Until, that is, that I realized that my neck was screaming at me. Telling me, 'Hello! Hey, you! Pay attention to me!'

I accidentally let out a small moan, but I smothered it up with a cough. Which didn't feel to good either. Of course they both caught it. They pounced on me. Saying a mixture of, "Are you okay? You look pretty bad, Teefs. Maybe you should go see a doctor or something. What do you think, Spiky?" Pretty much the whole bit. I told them all I needed was rest. They didn't look too convinced.

I tried standing up. I wobbled and fell back down, the air rushing out of me. I looked up at Zack and Cloud, feeling like a needy, small child. I tried to pull myself back up, but it was like my brain was disconnected from my body. I sighed, giving up.

I lifted my arms above my head, "Fine. You guys win. This time, at least," I grumbled. I felt Zack pulling me up, and, leaning into him for support, I made a clumsy step forward. Then another. I sighed in frustration. I hated being 'needy' for any reason.

"Jeez, Teefie. Clumsy on your feet much?" he said, humor deep within his voice. I was about to retort when he suddenly picked me up and started carrying me bridal-style.

I gave a soft squeak in protest. Leaning on him for support was one thing, carrying me was going into untouchable territory. I opened my mouth to protest when he silenced me with a kiss. I quick peck on the lips, but still a kiss. In front of _Cloud_. I stared wide eyed at Zack, who was grinning ear-to-ear. I glanced at Cloud, whose face showed nothing. His eyes on the other hand basically gave me everything that I needed.

Confusion and apprehension were easily read. I thought I saw a glimmer of maybe, happiness, sadness, and…anger? I couldn't tell. They went away, giving me that classic SOLDIER blank look, denying my access to his feelings. He stared blankly back at me, and I stared right back at him. Zack continued to walk upstairs, and Cloud followed.

Zack, very carefully, placed me on my bed. He muttered something like, 'you two catch up on things,' and left. I was alone. With Cloud. What could possibly go wrong?

--

**So, was it bad? Good? Tell me! Review's are appreciated! Thanks for reading!**

**-Tora**


	7. Territories Made

**OMG! It's an update! I'm sorry that this is later than my usual late, - rubs back of head - but well, I've just gotten over a cold, and had to make up all the missed work I had. So, sorryz again!**

**Okayz, I wasn't expecting so many reviews! For all the stories I've written, so, thank you, thank you, thank you! - hugs everyone who reviewed - Ahem. Sorry, I'm on a sugar high right now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII. I swear though, I will someday!**

**--**

**Thoughts**

**Chapter 7: Territories Made**

'_Great,'_ I thought, _'just perfect.'_ I'm all alone with Cloud standing just a few feet away. Why did Zack have to leave me with him? Just after he kissed me, and of course it had to be in front of Cloud'! I swear I'm gonna slug him. I realized after that last thought that I really wasn't in a good mood.

I coughed a little, some blood coming up and onto my hand. My eyes shot to Cloud, but he wasn't watching me, thank Minerva. I wiped my hands on my pants, smearing the blood until you couldn't see it. His shoes must've been very interesting to be inspected the way they were.

I was trying to look at his face, but his head was hung down, like a five-year-old who got in trouble for tracking mud into the house. At first, our silence was just awkward, but it soon morphed into a deafening scream. Cloud didn't move at all, but it seemed like he stiffened, if only a little. I couldn't take it anymore; I just had to break it.

I opened my mouth and managed to get out, "Cloud, look at me." Just talking made my throat hurt, which in turn made me cough some more. After I was done, I tentatively looked up at him through my eyelashes. His head wasn't turned down, but he still wasn't looking at me.

I just crossed my arms over my stomach, waiting.

He sighed, and then locked eyes with me, saying "There, happy? I'm going now, you should sleep."

He turned on his heels, and began stalking to the door. Instinctively, I yelled to him, "Cloud!" and then whimpered slightly when it stung my rubbed-raw throat. I covered it up with a cough, which didn't help, but Cloud knew me well. Too well, at times. He was by my side in an instant, worry clouding his normally bored looking eyes. He was fiddling with the bed-sheets, not knowing what to do. I patted his hand with mine, implying that I was alright. He sighed a little, slumping over, like I expected. What I didn't expect was the tingling sensation radiating through my hand. It felt strange, not at all bad, but_…It was just… different._

I found my thoughts going to how it felt when Zack touched me. That was definitely different than how this felt. When Zack touched me, it was a deep burn, filled with love. Or...Was it love?

I shook my head, not believing my own thoughts. Of course it was love.

I was shaken from my reverie when Cloud gently shook my shoulder, drawing my attention to his strangely tender eyes. He was staring at me intently. I felt self-conscious, and my hand immediately went to twiddle with my hair.

He continued to stare, and I broke, speaking of what we had to talk about, "Cloud, about me and Zack…" I trailed off, my voice suddenly stopped working. I was looking at him the whole time, so I saw the slight twitch of emotions leaking out, but he covered them up. No one else would've seen it, but, I saw everything when it came to Cloud. Same for him. He wouldn't look me in the eye.

He spoke before me, "What about? There's nothing to talk about." He spoke rather gruffly, making me wince, thinking about what could be going through that hard head of his.

"Now, Cloud, you know that's not true. I…I like him, Cloud, and I wanted to tell you, because… Honestly? I wanted to know if it was okay with you," I said softly. For some reason, admitting that made my cheeks burn. Now it was my turn to not look at him. He put his hand on my knee, trying to get my attention. Of course, sending a shock of tingling sensations through my body. I glanced at his face, and then moved my attention back back to the wall.

Sighing, he spoke, "Tifa…I honestly don't know what to think."

"What? Why?" I asked, automatically trying to wrap my arms around my waist, but that pulled the wrong muscles, and I twitched in pain, letting my arms fall back down.

He didn't speak for a few minutes, prompting me to ask again, but I resisted. I knew he was just trying to make sense of his thoughts. When he did speak, he sounded weird, something about his voice was…off. "I don't know! It just feels weird for you to date, Tifa..." he trailed off, and then continued, "I don't know if I want you to date, Teefs. It just feels strange for you, of all people, to date anyone."

Okay, that struck a nerve. I pushed him away from me, since he had subconsciously moved closer. He seemed shocked, to say the least.

"Oh, you don't want me to date? Well, excuse me for trying to have a damn life!" I spat, anger rising deep inside me. He winced, but at the moment, I couldn't care less.

"You don't need to date to have a life, Tifa! You have a life right here!" he growled, anger leaking into his normally calm voice.

"Oh, I don't? Who the hell are you, telling me how to live my freaking life!? I have one here, do I? Yeah, the same freaking one I had a year ago! _Nothing's changed!_ I need some change, or I swear, Cloud, I'll break!" I screeched, on the verge of losing it.

I saw anger glint in his eyes, "Well, excuse me! I just don't want you to go off and make a huge mistake!" he hissed.

He was seriously getting me pissed. "What makes you think this is a mistake, huh, Cloud? I don't want you to stop me! If it is a mistake, then I'll make it myself and learn from it!" I screamed at him, furious with his illogical assumption.

"I don't want to see you get hurt, Tifa! You shouldn't have to make mistakes, or want to, anyways! Why do you insist on going out with him? You've never wanted to go out before!" he spoke slightly softer, leaning back.

I just screamed right back at him, his calm making me angrier, "So what? If I get hurt, I'll deal with it, but don't you _dare_ stop me from going out with him or else, Strife." He winced when he heard me call him 'Strife,' since he knows I only call him that when I'm incredibly pissed at him.

I had to think about that last part, though, not knowing how to respond. Why did I want to go out? I didn't know, but, then again, I couldn't think straight.

"Oh, how is my going out with Zack any different than you going out with Aeris? You've never wanted to go out either, but, suddenly, you're out with Aeris? I mean, come on, whenever you find the girl you'll willingly date is when Cid decides to stop cussing." I know, I struck a low-ball, but, I couldn't help it. I got carried away, but I was blinded by the rage I felt towards him.

I saw him cringe, and pull away from me. Immediately, I felt so horrid and disgusted with myself, I felt sick. Instinctively, I tried to hug him, but that just made him pull away even more, so, I withdrew my hands with only a sigh.

He got up silently, trudged to the door, opened it, and was gone.

***

I bit my lower lip, waiting anxiously for my savior to get here. My thoughts traveled to my worries upstairs, making me chew harder on my skin.

A voice spoke, "Shiva, Teefs, you're going to bite your lip off. Calm down, okay? She'll get here soon." Zack said as he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. I leaned into him, needing the support. I thought about the conversation I had not just five minutes ago.

"_Hello?" A soft, calm voice spoke over the phone._

"_Um, Aeris? It's Tifa, and, I need your help." I spoke softly, shameful for why I needed it in the first place._

"_Oh! Tifa! I haven't heard from you in forever!" Her voice raised an octave in her excitement, which made me feel even worse._

"_Yeah, I know, and I'm sorry about that, too, Aeris."_

"_Too…?" She asked questioningly. She always caught everything._

"_Yeah, um, can you come over here, please? I said some things, and, Cloud won't come out of his (room," I admitted sheepishly, guiltily._

"_Oh! Of course, Tifa! I'll be there as soon as I can!" With that, she hung up the phone, leaving the sound of the dial tone ringing in my ear._

She didn't even ask what I said to make Cloud lose his temper. _Cloud_, who always keeps his cool. It made me feel even worse how she always doesn't question or ask, just goes along. It made me feel sick. Dear Minerva, I hope she gets here soon.

A few agonizing minutes later, the door opened. "Finally," I muttered under my breath. Zack removed his arm, and shifted his weight from foot to foot anxiously.

I looked up and saw a long haired brunette walking towards me in her usual attire, a pink dress. Her green eyes were practically glowing with an unknown emotion.

She looked me and Zack over, and her eyes widened when she saw my bandaged arm and bruises. In an instant, she was hovering over me, asking me questions with such speed that I couldn't make any out. I grabbed her arm, getting her attention. When her eyes met mine, they were frantic. I, as calmly I as could, explained what happened to her. She looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but I reminded her why she was here.

After she went upstairs, I leaned into Zack's side. He chuckled quietly, almost silently. "What's so funny?" I asked tiredly.

"You are, Teefs," he said, laughing louder, "You're so worried about Cloud when you can barely stand up by yourself," he said jokingly.

I wanted to protest, but, his point got across. I turned into him, snuggling into his chest, smiling slightly. He chuckled some more, and then fell silent. We stayed like that for a few minutes, at least until my feet began to hurt.

I moved over to a stool, pulling him with me. I sat down, and he leaned against the bar top beside me. I rested my head against his shoulder, exhaustion taking over me.

I was getting ready to fall asleep, but then I felt a pair of lips press against mine.

My eyes snapped open, looking into inhumanly blue ones. I smiled into the kiss, deepening it as I tangled my hands into his forever messy hair. He chuckled, and then proceeded to wrap his arms around my waist. I was on fire.

When he pulled away, I gasped for breath, the fire still burning my skin and lips.

I looked up into his eyes, slightly dazed. He laughed at my reaction, and I pretended to be hurt, and slid off the stool and started to walk up the stairs. He came up from behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

I laughed and turned around, giving him a tight hug for no apparent reason. He hugged me back, careful not to hurt my already sore body.

When I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, I removed my arms from around him, turning to look up them. Okay, I'll admit, I was a little surprised to see what I did.

Cloud's arm was carelessly slung around Aeris' waist, while her arm was wrapped tightly around his own. While she was beaming, Cloud was looking rather beaten and tired. I cringed in guilt, and Zack secured his arm around my waist, bringing me into his side, trying to comfort me.

When they were facing opposite from me and Zack, I felt some invisible line form, territories made. It separated me and Zack from Cloud and Aeris. It was strange, and the feeling stayed there, unbreakable. They felt it too, with the way Aeris's smile faded away, and how the once-happy atmosphere faded until the room seemed to darken slightly. I shifted my feet, feeling awkward just standing here.

I was going to apologize to Cloud, but, just then, Aeris spoke, "Well, I ought to be outta here; I have something I have to do tonight," with the way she spoke, it was like she was implying something, but I had no idea what. Beside me, Zack stiffened and sighed, giving me one last squeeze, and then letting go.

I looked over at him in question, but he just shook his head, mumbled a good-bye, pecked me on the cheek, and left out the door, right behind Aeris. Nothing unusual.

Looking over at the incredibly awkward looking Cloud, I sighed, knowing what I had to say.

"…Cloud? Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I just got fed up, I should've come to you sooner, but I didn't. It's my fault," I spoke, my voice filled with shame and embarrassment.

He mumbled, "It's fine, Tifa."

I sighed, knowing that's all I was going to get, and began to walk towards the stairs.

Cloud was suddenly right in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. He was so close, just mere inches in between us. I gasped and looked up into humor filled eyes, mine as wide as saucers. He didn't say anything, but leaned down towards me, coming closer until his lips were almost on mine.

Just as I was going to lean in, being controlled by his eyes, pulled into them, a glimmer of remembrance flashed in his eyes, and he pulled back, stating quite clearly, "Shit!" and then continued to sprint away, leaving me alone, dazed and confused with my emotions.

**--**

**Arg! Cloud, you were _so close!_ So, some CloTi was in this chapter, any good? I had a lot of help from my beta, Valk, and so, thank you! Sad to admit, but reviews are the heart and joy of Fan-Fiction for me right now. Well, I'll try and update sooner! Byez!**

**Thanks again!**

**-Tora**


	8. Breaking Points

**O meh! It's an update! I'm terribly sorry the lateness of this one, but things at home lately have been crazy and hectic. So, I'll try and update sooner, but no promises. Anyways, thank you to all who reviewed! They make me feel so loved! Aherm. Well, here ya go.**

**Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah. I don't own. I seriously don't know why I still write this.**

**--**

**Thoughts**

**Chapter 8: Breaking Points**

I just stood there like an idiot for the longest time. Couldn't talk. Couldn't breathe. Didn't give a damn about those things anyways. The only thing I _could_ think about was him. Cloud. Who practically stopped my heart in pure, undying happiness, and then shattered it in tiny, itty-bitty little pieces.

I didn't believe it! How _could_ he? Didn't he know what he just did? He could've slapped me and it hurt less than this. Didn't he _care? _Did he even give a damn about _my_ feelings?

Did he feel pressured to do that, and then he just snapped and ran away? No, Cloud isn't one to play with people's feelings. But…

I felt tears prick my eyes, and took a ragged breath. No, I can't break down here; I'll just hold it in, like always. Sniffling, I brought my hand up to my eyes and wiped away the unshed tears. I straightened and set off towards where Cloud ran to.

***

Cloud

_Leaning in to Tifa, I wasn't myself. I mean yes, it wasn't like before when I got Mako poisoning and completely shut down, I mean I wasn't _acting_ like myself. I was acting like someone foreign. Someone who could get lost in her eyes. Anyone other than me._

_She looked…startled to start off with. Happiness, confusion…longing perhaps? I couldn't tell though, and, as I was going to close my eyes, I remembered something important. My eyes opened wide, and I mumbled, loudly, "Shit!" and ran off, Tifa not following._

What a time to remember something like that, Strife_, I thought bitterly to myself. I didn't fully believe that happened, __either, but __what a mood killer._

_Getting to my destination, I looked around frantically for something that wasn't there. Cursing, I ran about the bottom level of the house, searching the floor, the storage room, everything. And came up empty. _

_I heard the inevitable footsteps coming__and turned to face Tifa. When I looked at her face, I cringed in sadness and pain for what I saw._

_Her expression was blank and emotionless and her eyes were red like she had been crying. I was startled by that realization. When had I _ever_ seen her cry? The only time I could remember was when Sephiroth killed her father, but__that would __only be __natural._

_I was snapped out of my reverie when she was about to speak._

"…_Cloud? What's wrong?" asking this, she crossed her arms around her chest, and stared at me, waiting for an answer._

_Those few words stung me so deep I thought I'd fall over. She didn't ask, "Cloud, why'd you try to kiss me and leave?" or, "Damn it, Cloud! That was so selfish of you! How could you?" Of course not, because she's _Tifa._ She'd never hurt me, or anyone, like that, intentionally anyway. Just because she was too good. Too pure. I didn't deserve her friendship for that reason, either. Didn't deserve _her.

_Realizing that I didn't answer her question, I blurted out quietly, "Zanaku." I didn't need to say anything else, because that one word could explain everything. Or, to an extent._

_She gasped and __-__with my gaze on her feet, because I couldn't bear to see it__-__ took a step back, suddenly seeing the obvious. I finally glanced up at her face, and__was, okay, __I __admit, shocked to see __the __expression she wore. Eyes wide, color draining from her face, and her mouth practically falling off and dropping to the floor. She was staring pointedly at something, and__as far as I could tell, it was a piece of paper on the ground, fluttering slightly in the breeze. (The windows were open.)_

_I turned my head to the side, asking silently what it was. She shook her head slowly, reaching down to pick up the paper, and__with a shaking hand, walked towards me to hand it over._

_Reading over it, I half gasped, half growled at what it said. It read:_

_Dearest Tifa,_

_Hello again, I suspect you'll be the first one to read this and, well, __I __wouldn't be surprised to find that you let everyone else read it too._

_Starting with __Strife,__ of course._

_You seem to have let me escape from your clutches (or was it my clutches?). Which wasn't such a good idea anyway, letting me be on my own, with no one to watch me, now was it?_

_I've not given up on my mission, which of course is to still kill __Strife,__ but__I have a new target __as well__. You, my dearie. My sweet, sweet Tifa. And anyone who stands in my way._

_No one can stop me._

_I plan on __fulfilling__ my mission by this Sunday, which is a short amount of time, but __I'm sure you two __can handle it._

_That's all I'll tell you, because I couldn't make this too easy,__now could I? What's the fun in that?_

_For now, farewell._

_Zanaku_

_My eyes closed into slits. Pure hatred __was __racing through my veins, making me practically shake. How _dare_ he. Who did he think he was, writing a threat like that? Who even told him he could talk like that to Tifa, like he owned her. _

_I glanced at Tifa, who was waiting for my reaction. I opened my mouth to speak, but in my rage, nothing came out. _

_"So, um, what do ya think?" she asked in a small voice, a weak one. She sounded so broken. I didn't know how to respond, so I shook my head, silently telling her that I couldn't organize my thoughts to form a coherent sentence._

_She sighed, __snatching __the paper from my hand __and tucked it into her pocket. She turned to walk up the stairs, but__without thinking it through; I shot my hand out and grabbed her arm._

_She let out a hiss and turned around to face me, eyes blazing. I was taken aback, __so I slowly __returned my hand to my side. _

_After a few seconds her eyes lost their glint__and she rubbed the bridge between her nose, sighing tiredly._

"_Yes, Cloud? What do you want?" she asked me, not looking above my chin._

_I didn't say anything about that though, because I was thinking about what I _did_ want. For her to forgive me, yeah, of course, but it seemed like more than that. My eyebrows knitted together in deep concentration, trying to piece together things that just wouldn't fit. Only Tifa's voice could break me free from my reverie._

"_Cloud, if you're just going to stand there, then, I'm going to go get Marlene and Denzel. I bet they'll want to see you." With that said, she trudged out the door, her head hung sullenly._

_This little unsolved puzzle annoyed the hell out of me, but it'd do no good to worry about it, so I decided to call Aeris. Maybe that'd get my mind off of things._

_***_

Marlene

_Giggling, I ran around Denzel and our neighbor, Aria, squealing when he tackled me to the ground._

"_Gotcha, Marley! Now you're it!" Denzel stated, and jumped back off of me before I could tag him. Huffing, I stood up, wiping some stray dirt from my dress, and then started tip-toeing up behind Aria, for she was facing the opposite side of me, and she didn't know I was there. Grinning like a devil, I poked her in the shoulder, happily declaring, "You're it now, Aria!"_

_But, she didn't move. It was like she didn't know I was there. Frowning, I stepped in her line of vision, trying to get her attention. Her eyes were glazed over, and her eyebrows were knitted together in confusion._

_I tilted my head to the side in confusion, and I waved my hand in front of her face. She still didn't move._

"_Denzel, something's wrong with Ar—"I was attempting to alert Denzel when I noticed he too had that far away look in his eyes. My eyes widened in horror, for, I had no idea what was happening._

_I ran over to Denzel, and began shaking him hard, trying to break him from whatever held him. After a few minutes of shaking, I broke down, falling to the ground and crying in my hands._

_I heard some footsteps coming, and then, those footsteps were running towards me. I felt a hand on my shoulder, shaking me gently._

"_Marley? Sweetie, what's wrong?" I felt Tifa's hands turning me to face her, and I wrapped my arms around her waist, now completely sobbing._

_I tried to get the words to come out, but they kept getting lost in my crying. Finally, I took a deep breath and got out a few words. "Something…wrong…Denzel…Aria-"was all I got __out, but__ I got the message across. Tifa's head snapped up and her eyes traveled towards Denzel. She stared intently at him for a few seconds, and then glanced at Aria. Her eyebrows knit together the same way __mine had__, and then she looked back down towards me. She looked like she was going to say something but just then a voice interrupted us._

"…_Ugh, what happened?" the voice asked. Strange, it sounded weirdly like—_

"_Denzy! You're back!" I got up from the ground and tackled him. He took a step back to balance himself, and then gave me a quick squeeze in return. Glancing at Aria, I saw she too was back. I let him go after a few seconds, and I felt tears threatening to fall again._

"…_But Marley, I never went anywhere." He said, looking at me with confusion in his eyes._

**--**

**Ooo! Things are starting to pick up. I didn't realize I was going to make this happen until yesterday, and I have, practically, the rest of the story planned out in my head. So, thanks for reading, and please review! Thank ya!**

**-Tora**


	9. Explanations Needed

**I'm so, so, so sorry! This is so late! But, don't take out your pitch-forks just yet! I swear, it's not my fault! Life at my house right now is so totally crazy, and I've not had time to get on my laptop lately. Anyways, here it is, hope ya enjoy!**

**Also, thank you Miss. Valk for putting up with my totally awsome editing skillz. (Note sarcasm.)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own. I swear, my cat's taunting meh.**

**--**

**Thoughts**

**Chapter 9: Explanations Needed**

Truth be told, I was scared. Completely and totally terrified by what Denzel had said, but I covered it up quickly by putting an impassive look on. I turned my gaze down to Marlene, who gazed back at me with wide eyes.

"Marley, it's okay, they were just messing with you." I gave Denzel a fake-stern look, and continued, "Come on, you guys. Guess who's home?" I raised my eyebrows toward them, waiting for an answer.

"Cloud?" the girl in my arms asked. I nodded towards her, and she squealed in delight. I let go of her and she began running home faster than I could stop her. I waved towards Denzel, he sighed, mumbled a good-bye to Aria, and came to my side. I gave him a you're-so-going-to-explain-what-happened look, which made him cast his eyes downwards, sighing.

We walked back to the bar in silence; the only sound was my heart-beat stuttering in my throat.

***

I shifted my weight from foot to foot and leaned my elbows on the counter. I had just called everyone, and I mean _everyone._ Yuffie, Cid, Barret, Aeris, and they all agreed to look for Vincent. We _had_ to sort out what Cloud and I found out. Now we were just waiting, impatiently on my half (part). I huffed out a breath and turned to see what Cloud was doing, and was, surprisingly, not-so shocked like I would've been if I found him doing that a week ago.

He was playing with Marlene, tossing her up in the air and catching her before she could get hurt. Denzel was rolling his eyes at the scene, but even he couldn't stop the smile from coming onto his face. My motherly side wanted to stop Cloud from doing that to Marlene, but I shook the feeling away, because I trusted him. I trusted him with my life.

When Marlene shrieked, my head whipped towards them, but then she began laughing wildly, so I knew she wasn't hurt. I smiled slightly at what was unfolding before me and turned my eyes to the piece of paper sitting innocently in front of me. Sighing, I moved it away, not wanting to think about what Zanaku wrote, and the threat he implied.

He gave us so little to work off of and that irritated the hell out of me, but something bugged me even more. He _knew_ that would rub me the wrong way and I want to know _how_ he knew that. Had he been spying on us? No, I would've found out sooner. Maybe he contacted someone, perhaps from ShinRa who knew a lot about us? The possibilities were endless.

I groaned, and put my head down on my hands. Dear Minerva let them get here soon.

I was just about to doze off when I heard a rather loud 'thump.' I snapped my head up so fast it almost gave me whiplash. The first thought that came to mind was that Cloud had evidently dropped Marlene and she had hit the floor. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Cloud still holding her, and that they both looked towards me in regard to the noise.

After I knew that it wasn't Marlene, I reached for my gloves in my pocket. My next thought being that it was _him_. Zanaku.

I motioned for Cloud to stay put when he took a step towards me, reaching automatically for his sword that wasn't there. He shook his head, the old Cloud coming out for a second, but I moved my hands to the kids, and he sighed, understanding what I meant. Marlene was about to say something, but I moved my fingers to my lips, silently telling her to be quiet.

Slipping my gloves on, I walked towards the door, while adrenaline was racing through my veins, and took a deep breath. I would need to strike first and take out whoever this was quickly. With another breath, I burst through the door, and I heard a gasp of surprise coming from the attacker.

With blurring speed, I swung my fist towards the person's stomach, but when I recognized who it was, I moved my fist away from her. The momentum from the swing sent me flying forwards, so I ended up doing a roll to prevent myself from falling flat on my face.

"Yuffie! What the hell?" I yelled at her, picking myself up and brushing the dirt off of my shorts. She was staring wide eyed at me, her mouth a perfect 'O,' and for once she was speechless but only for a few seconds, and then she went into overdrive. "Tifa! What the heck?! You almost sent me flying to next year! What's your problem? Is there a reason you're so jumpy? Who didja think it was? Sephi—"she stopped talking when I shook my head, silently telling her to stop. The people who were around us were giving me weird looks, which made me blush lightly, but otherwise I gave them no notice.

I looked behind her; the trash-cans in the neighbor's yard were thrown everywhere, so I concluded it was the work of the amazing ninja Yuffie and her awesome reflexes.

"Do you know where the others are?" I asked her quietly while looking at her new attire. She wasn't wearing what she normally did, with the short shorts, and her blue shirt and vest. Now she was wearing a black form-fitting skirt that went to her mid-thigh, revealing, but she had lace-up boots to cover most of her legs, which were black with the rim of them white. Her shirt had a blue tint to it, but was, shocker, black. She had a blue head-band in her hair to keep her bangs out of her face.

I realized she was talking, so I tuned into it, "—Yeah, well, I came here first cuz' of your message and as a welcome back gift I almost get chopped in half!" she rambled and I rolled my eyes at her. Sometimes I wish she came with an off button.

I raised my eyebrows in question, looking her over, and she grinned at me. "Like it? I decided to change my wardrobe up a little, and voila!" she moved her hands quickly while she spoke.

"Yeah, you look good. But, why all the black?" I asked her.

"Oh, um…I was just feeling like it." She shrugged it off, something she doesn't normally do. I let it go, though, and motioned for her to follow me inside.

When I got through the door, Yuffie was tackled by Marlene, who latched onto her leg, and was giggling like crazy. I smiled at the sight, then grabbed the note and sat down at a booth. Cloud nodded in her direction and Yuffie rolled her eyes at him.

"So, now what didja guys need?" Yuffie asked as she attempted to untangle herself from the little girl still attached to her leg, but only managed to fall over. A chuckle escaped from Cloud and I smiled at her.

When she got back up, muttering something about floorboards, I motioned for her to come here. She walked towards me, blushing madly when she heard Marlene laughing. I smiled knowingly at her again and gave her the note Zanaku had so lovingly left us. Her eyebrows creased together as she read, and when she was done, she gave it back to me.

"Holy sh— Er, I mean, frick!" Yuffie caught herself, glancing quickly towards the kids then back towards me, "So, who's this 'Zanaku' guy, Teefie? What's he mean by his target is Chocobo-head over here? And, it says here that you kept him tied up, why was he here, anyways? Oh! What abo—"I cut her off by holding my hand to her mouth, because I knew that's the only way to stop her when she starts to rant like that.

"Yuffie. I'll explain everything when everybody gets here. So, for now, we wait," I said to her as I removed my hand. She sighed and plopped down across from Cloud. He was staring off into space. For once, she didn't have anything to say, which meant she was thinking about something important. Very un-Yuffie like.

I started to walk behind the counter again when I heard the bar door open. Looking over, I saw everybody else that we were waiting on. Such timing. Zack rushed to my side, wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me close. He asked, "Tifa. What's going on? I ran into the guys outside, and they told me that you called telling them to come here."

I guess I'd forgotten to call him. Oh well, he's here, that's all that matters.

"Zack. I'll explain everything. Just give me a second," I told him calmly.

Cid and Barret sat down at the bar top, while Aeris was already seated by Cloud. A pang of ice ran through my body, but I ignored it. No one so much as gave each other a nod in hello, everyone was all business. Well, except one.

The only person left standing was Vincent, who was staring at Yuffie in what you could interpret to be shock. She was staring back at him blankly, and then she raised one of her small, delicate eyebrows at him, eyes sparkling with mischief. The scene almost made me laugh out loud, but, everyone else was staring at me, waiting for me to speak.

Taking in a deep, preparative breath, I began to explain.

**--**

**Not really eventful, more of a filler type chapter. Things will start picking up soon. I'll get the next chapter up soon! ...Okay, soon-_ish. _**

**Reviews make me feel fluffy inside!**

**-Tora**


	10. Tears Shed

**Uh, hi? - insert very long and heartfelt apology here - I'm so, terribly sorry! I was going to post so much sooner, but, my Beta has a lot on her plate right now, so I figured I'd post it. So, sorry if there are any mistakes, I'll try to fix all the ones I see.**

**I have to thank anyone and everyone who's still following this story! And, uh, oops. I apologize for anyone who started to read a previous chapter ten that started in an unknown pov. I uploaded the wrong chapter, _again. _So, here's the right chapter ten. Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII or any characters. **

**--**

**Thoughts**

**Chapter 10: Tears Shed**

After I finished explaining, all hell broke loose. Cid started to cuss mercilessly, forgetting about the kids, obviously. Yuffie yelled at him for it, too. Barret intervened in that before it got ugly. Vincent was still staring at Yuffie, and Zack started to question me.

"Tifa, what the hell?! He _threatened_ you? How dare that bas—"he snarled at me, but I cut him off.

"Zack, easy. It's not as bad as it sounds." I told him calmly, glancing at Aeris yelling at Cloud, said person trying to explain to her why he didn't tell her sooner. I almost smirked. "Here, let me talk to everyone."

I opened my mouth to scream at everyone to shut the hell up, but, someone did it for me.

"Hey! Be quiet! You all are hurting my ears!" Marlene yelled seriously, her eyebrows knit together. Everyone was silent immediately. _Hmm_, I thought, _never knew Marlene had it in her._

"Guys, she's right. Nothing will be accomplished if all we do is yell at each other." Some murmurs of agreement. I smiled victoriously, continuing, "Okay, I know everyone has some questions to how we…_came across_ him." I stuttered slightly, my eyes shooting to the kids. I hadn't, when I was explaining, said that he attacked me, and I wasn't planning on it.

Continuing, I stared at Zack when I spoke, "But, that doesn't matter. He's in our lives now, and we need to focus on how to get him _out._"  
Some murmurs rippled through the crowd in resigned agreement, but, I hesitated. I sighed; figuring now was a good time to bring it up.

"Um…A little while ago, something happened." When I started to speak, everyone turned towards me again, intent on what I was saying. I turned towards Zack, whispering in his ear to get Marlene and Denzel somewhere else. He nodded in my direction, and walked over to the kids. Saying something to them, Denzel opened his mouth to argue, but Zack held up his hand to stop him, and then picked him and his sister up in his arms and walked upstairs, many complaints along the way.

I rolled my eyes, _subtle, Zack, _I thought towards him. Waiting for him to get back, I walked behind the counter and rested my arms on the cool granite.

When he came back, I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

_***_

_Marlene_

_Squirming, I made a noise of protest as Zack picked me and Denzel up and proceeded to walk upstairs. He sat us down on our beds, ruffled Denzel's hair, and left without a word._

_I crossed my arms, huffing in defiance. I _hated_ having to go in another room because the adults didn't want us kids to know what they're talking about. I decided to be the rebellious Marlene for a bit and climbed off my bed, only to be stopped by the only other person here._

_"Denzel," I whined, "_Move_."_

_The boy shook his head, and spoke, "Marley, you don't want to know what they're talking about, it'll just confuse you. I don't care." He said, trying to convince me not to step outside by showing nonchalance about it._

_I wouldn't be so easily influenced, though. I raised my eyebrows at him, and said, "_Nothing_ interests you, Denzel. Now come on, stop being such a party pooper!" I taunted him slightly. He rolled his eyes at me, and began to walk to his bed._

_"Denzel!" I whined to him. He turned around to face me, which he shouldn't have done. I gave him my puppy dog eyes. The same pair that got me a cookie from Tifa before dinner and let me ride Fenrir, if only for a moment. I saw Denzel hesitate, but then he gave in._

_He was always such a push-over. I squealed in delight when he told me that I'd have to be quiet. I nodded solemnly at him after my almost silent celebration._

_I opened the door to the hallway and stepped out. Denzel tripped over something, Minerva knows what, and fell on the floor with a 'thump!' I yanked him up, and whisper/yelled at him, "Shh! Are you nuts, Denzel? They're gonna hear us!" My eyes were wide with subdued panic; hoping one of the adults wouldn't set foot on the stairs to see what made that noise._

_He shook me off, and tiptoed to the stairs. I took a deep breath and followed. I heard quiet talking, and I strained to hear. Sitting on the steps at an angle so they couldn't see me, I listened. Denzel sat next to me._

_"—so, something happened to Denzel and Aria, our neighbor that the kids like to play with, that they don't remember. It doesn't make any sense!" I heard Tifa wail, and lots of murmuring afterwards. I realized they were talking about what happened to Denzel a little bit ago, and he did too, for he turned a dull shade of white. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it, trying to comfort him._

_"So Tifa, what you're saying is that they spaced out for a few seconds? Come on, they're kids. They'll do that type of stuff." A ruff voice said, Zack._

_I heard a thump, and I assumed it was Tifa smacking her hands on some surface, she yelled, "It was different! They weren't spacing, they were _gone!_ The life in their eyes, was...just…gone." she slowed down at the end, losing steam._

_Then they went to talk about boring things, like why and how this happened. My eyelids were closing, giving in to sleep, but I heard people moving around, and I looked at Denzel. He glanced back at me, and we both bolted up to our room at the same time. Just as we closed the door, I heard steps on the stairs. I sighed a breath of relief, and plopped on my bed, idly playing with my moogle. _

_So many things to think about. But most of the things didn't make any sense. Throwing my back on the bed, I closed my eyes, hoping to have a short nap before I sorted it all out._

***

Tifa

I rubbed my temples, sighing deeply. That had not gone as planned. They completely brushed my idea aside, thinking it was ridiculous. Even Zack. I know what I saw, and it wasn't normal. Not at all. Everyone was still here, talking in groups, and Vincent, damn him, was _still_ staring at Yuffie, who acted like she didn't notice, but she kept stealing glances at him every few seconds. Something was going on, but I didn't feel like trying to figure it out right now.

But, we had made progress on other things.

Like, what we were going to do about that freaking problem that kept popping up. Zanaku. Zack was going to go snooping around, see if he can find where, and when Sunday, he and his followers would strike. Yuffie, being her normally crazy-self, would flat-out ask people most likely. I would've helped by asking around during bar hours, but, it was closed all week, due to my 'injuries.' Seriously, I've suffered worse.

None of them would let me do _anything._ I felt useless. I am useless, right now at the very least.

Needing to do something to get my mind off of things, I walked upstairs to the kids' room. When I passed him, I pulled away from Zack's touch, telling him I was checking on the kids. He had a sad look in his eyes, uncommon for him, but said nothing to stop me. I didn't need pity right now.

When I walked in the kids' room, I saw Denzel reading a comic, while Marlene was lying on her back, looking like she was asleep.

Walking towards Denzel, he looked up, and I pointed over to Marlene, raising my eyebrows. He nodded his head, answering my question.

Kneeling, I whispered, trying not to wake Marlene, "Denzel. Now, you must've known what we were talking about downstairs." I watched as a guilty look crossed his eyes, but it went away to confusion and fear. He gave one, curt nod, and I asked, "Do you know what happened earlier today, while you were playing?"

He sighed, and whispered back, "Tifa, I don't know. I don't understand what happened to me or Aria. I don't remember it at all. All I know is one second I was running away from Marlene, and the next she's in your arms crying her eyes out!" by the time he finished, uncommon tears pricked the corners of his eyes, and his breath turned ragged.

I felt a tug of worry and concern pull at my heart, and my eyes softened. I often forgot that he's just a boy, just a kid. He's acted so grown up since the stigma…

I wrapped my arms around him, and for once he didn't object. He pulled his shaking hands around my neck, and I felt wetness trickle down my shirt. I held him as he cried. As we both cried. I couldn't help it, this had been one of the first times I'd seen him cry, and it terrified me. The unknown is terrifying, it always has been, and unfortunately, will always be. It leaves places for doubt and uncertainty to grow. I promised myself something. Promised he'd never have to cry again, that he'd have no reason to.

As our tears faded, he pulled back, his eyes still glistening, and whispered brokenly, "Tifa, I'm scared. What's gonna happen to us?"

I whispered back to him soothingly, "Shh, Denzel. Everything's going to be fine. Shh."

His eyes as wide as saucers, he asked me a seemingly innocent question, "Tifa, how do you know? How do you know everything's gonna be okay?"

I _didn't_ know. I had absolutely no inkling of an idea of how everything's going to be okay, if it even will be. And that's the reason why he needed reassurances, because he felt it too. Felt the _need_ for reassurances, as did I. Smoothing his soft brown hair out with my hand, I stated the truth to him, "Because it has to be. There's no other way."

**--**

**Thanks again to all who's reading this, and have a great day!**

**Reviews are much appreciated!**

**~Niyati**


	11. Just Games

**Hello, again! Now, this is the _freakishly _short chapter. I was suffering major writer's block when writing this, but I promise the next chapter will have more meaning to it! This is sort of a short filler.  
**

**And this chapter is actually Beta'd! Thank OCV for all the neat grammericalness!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or the characters!**

**BTW, apologies for those few who noticed that the POV's aren't centered, FFnet and I are arguing about it, and, currently, it's winning.**

**--**

**Thoughts**

**Chapter 11: Just Games**

_???_

_My plan was perfect. Absolutely brilliant. I nodded my head towards Serge, then he bowed and left the room._

_Everything was set, and nothing could go wrong. Plans made unbeatable by the best._

_Including me, of course._

***

Tifa

I groaned. Where the hell was my pillow...

Answering my thoughts, I fell on the floor. Yelping, my eyes shot open, taking in the scene before me.

I had apparently fallen asleep on the sofa last night while we were finishing up details on what we were doing the next day. Zack was sleeping on my shoulder, and when I fell off, he had slumped down, laying at an awkward angle. Aeris was curled up beside Cloud on the other sofa and I felt a familiar pang of ice slice through my chest.

Shaking the feeling away, or trying to, I got up in search of the ones missing.

I found Vincent slouched over in a booth, head resting on the table in an uncomfortable way. I cringed at the pain he'd be in when he woke up.

Yuffie was curled up in a ball in the same booth, but on the other seat. Her hair had fallen loose of her headband, and was hanging in her eyes. Her face looked, surprisingly, innocent. Exactly the opposite from when she was awake, with her eyes glinting with mischievous thoughts of stealing materia.

Brushing her hair out of her eyes, I glanced for Barret and Cid. Not seeing them, I walked upstairs to check on the kids and hopefully find them somewhere.

The door creaked as I opened it, but, thankfully, I heard faint snoring. I had to bite the inside of my mouth to stop my laughter from bubbling over.

Denzel, Marlene, Cid, and Barret were curled up on the floor, all the blankets from the bed's ripped off to form a haphazard bed on the floor.

Wishing I had a camera to capture the moment with, I closed the door swiftly to avoid waking them.

Returning downstairs, I found Cloud, hair messier than normal, getting a glass of water. Walking up behind him silently, I said, "'Morning, Cloud."

Surprisingly enough, he jumped, and I let a small smile tug the corners of my lips up.

Getting some water, myself, I asked, "What? Did I scare you?"

He let out a grunt, and I couldn't restrain a laugh. For the moment, I had completely forgotten about what almost happened between us and apparently he had, too. We talked about nothing important, exchanged a few laughs, and after we separated to do different things, feeling better than before.

_***_

_???_

_Sighing impatiently, I scooted around in my chair. Everything was planned out, so that only left one thing to do. Wait. Wait and see how this game played out. _

**--**

**You all know who the '???' pov is, don'tcha? Hope ya do! But, you will soon enough.**

**Oh, and, the name 'Serge' actually has some meaning. It literally means 'Servant' in Russian. Funny, huh?**

**Expect an update by, at the latest, Friday. I'm trying to get better at updating sooner!**

**Reviews gives me warm fluffies!**

~Niyati


	12. Limits

**I'm so sorry for not updating when I told you all I would! My Beta couldn't edit this story, so I planned on updating the day after. But, I've had a busy schedule lately. I had a Band competition (Yes, I'm in Band) Wednesday, and I've been preparing for it. And, we got a rating of an over-all 1! (That's the best rating you can get.) We were all so surprised! I won't get into all the technical stuff of it, but, it was pretty dang fun!**

**This chapter's mostly yet another filler, and, I got some more Yuffie in this one! I was missing her. I'll update much sooner this week, I absolutely pinky promise!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII!**

**--**

**Thoughts**

**Chapter 12: Limits**

Pacing the small living room, my mood fell to an all-time low. I was getting angrier by the second, and, I couldn't risk _another _hole in the wall to settle my emotions.

After everyone had woken up, they all left me here, alone. I tried to follow them, but a threat from Yuffie was enough to shut me up.

They were all out there, looking for clues, while I was stuck here.

Cursing under my breath, I bent over and started stretching. Might as well work out the kinks so I could start working sooner.

***

Yuffie

Humming happily, I continued to skip down the street. Seeing a couple of teenagers grouped together, I worked a smile onto my face and walked up to them.

"Uh, excuse me!" I said, waving frantically, effectively grabbing their attention. As I got closer, I saw that there were three guys and four girls.

"Um, hey there." A red-headed girl said a bit uncertainly.

"I was wondering...Have you seen this man around? He's my adoptive Uncle, and I'm supposed to find 'im. He's tall and bald. Have ya seen 'im?"

They all looked at each other, and shook their heads simultaneously, and a blonde headed boy said, "Just who _are _you, anyways?"

My smile widened, "I'm Yuffie Kisaragi, the Princess of Wutai! But, ya can just call me Yuffie!"

They stared at me for a few seconds, mouth gaping. I was tempted to wave my hand in front of their faces, but refrained from it.

"So...? It's kinda important!" I pushed them. Finally, they snapped out of it.

"Oh, no! We haven't seen anyone like that! B-but we'd love to help! Right, guys?" They all nodded eagerly, and, if possible, my smile got wider.

I knew Cloud would be pissed once he found out, but, he'd thank me for it in the long run.

"C'mon, guys, I got just the plan."

***

Tifa

Finished with the stretching, I waltzed around the bar, bored beyond measure. Why wasn't I allowed to help again? I'm not some weakling that needs a _whole _week to recover. And besides, without anyone else here, the bar closed, and my inability to even consider picking up a book in a time like this, I had nothing to do. I was so totally useless it wasn't even funny--

Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket, which made me jump slightly, but I whipped it out and answered in the midst of the third _'ring!' _

"Hello? Cloud? Zack?" I said into it, expecting to have a call about information on Zanaku.

"Sorry, deary, I'm neither of them." A deep, melodic voice echoed mine.

Freezing mid-breath, my hand tightened on the phone, and without a second thought, I whispered, "Zanaku."

***

Yuffie

"So, that's the plan, alright? Y'all know the signal?" All around me, I saw nods from the mob of people I had managed to assemble within the hour. They all were kids, from thorough inspection, who had distinctive qualities. Like, being able to dodge punches, handle weapons, and who're quick.

I'd have to make sure none of them could be hurt from this, whatever _this _was.

My phone vibrated, signaling a voice message. I furrowed my brow; I didn't hear my phone ring. How had I missed a call?

Holding up a finger to the mass of teenagers, I held it up to my ear and hit _'play.'_

A deep, rumbling male voice came on. _"Hello, Yuffie Kisaragi. How is it we've not managed to meet yet? You've almost wasted an entire day. How far have you come in your search for knowledge? How desperate is Tifa becoming? Oh, how is she holding up, that poor thing? I really didn't mean to hurt her so bad, I was looking forward to crossing paths with her again. She was entertaining, to say the least. I sure do hope you come visit me soon, hopefully within the week. Who knows the outcome by Sunday's end? Farewell, Kisaragi."_

I held the phone to my ear long after the message stopped, stunned. I couldn't _believe _the freaking _nerve--_

Huffing indignantly, I turned back towards the crowd, clapping twice to gain their attention. "Okay, people, I need to make some calls. Y'all can go rest up and find some more people, okay? Let's meet back here, say, noon tomorrow? Yeah, that should work." Giving a last wave, I trotted off, and dashed around a corner of the nearest building.

Whipping out my cell, I dialed frantically, and, with all the numbers punched in, I held it to my ear and waited out the rings.

"What's wrong?" Was the immediate answer. I rolled my eyes, Cloud didn't even bother with 'hello's!'

"It's Zanaku, Cloud. I just got a message from him, that ass. He's playing with us, Cloud. This is just a freakin' game to him, isn't it?" I muttered to him, and I was shocked to feel my eyes burn with tears.

He stayed silent for a few moments, and the only reason I still knew he was there was because of the suddenly harsh breathing on the other end.

"Yeah, Yuffie, it is. It's just some sick game."

***

Tifa

My whole body tense, I listened to a disgusting laugh on the other end, "Quite perceptive, as always. How're you feeling? Better? Worse? Hopefully better. I didn't exactly--"  
I cut him off after I had gotten my bearings by shrieking oh-so-coherently, "_What kind of game are you playing?!?"_

I heard, yet another, chuckle on the other end, and a nauseous wave came over me. "Oh, you see this as a game, Tifa? Many lives are in jeopardy. You should be ashamed of yourself." He spoke to me as if he were the father of a child Marlene's age.

My gut wretched as he twisted my words around. I should've known, by now, that he'd have this affect on me. I wouldn't put it above myself to destroy my cell in an act of rebellion.

"Stop avoiding my questions, damnit!"

"Hmm, I never pegged you for one with the short temper. I wonder what happens when other people get on your bad side. Especially those kids you have living with you...?"

That line just did me in. "Zanaku, you _bastard! _Stop toying with me! Don't make me come _rip _your _throat _out!" By then, I was hyped up on adrenaline, and my hands instinctively made fists.

He full out _laughed. _"Well! I guess, come Sunday, I'll know if you're true to your words. It'll be lovely battling you again, my dear. Until the next time, Farewell."

_And then he hung up._

I slammed my phone down, nearly snapping it in half, and turned around and stalked around the bar.

Even though it was just a few lines, I was madder than hell, and so drunk from adrenaline I could hurl. I wanted nothing more than to just _hit _that _beast--_

I whirled around and faced a stool, and, within the haze of my rage, I didn't fully comprehend what I did until I was standing in a pile of rubble, with sawdust all around me.

Coughing, I kicked the pile of wood once, twice for good measure, and, drained, fell on the ground. I could feel the splinters biting into my thighs, but I couldn't care less.

Groaning, I rested my head in my hands.

This ultimately _sucked._

_**--**_

**So, what didja think? Was it good, bad? Leave a review to tell me! Oh, and I apologize for any mistakes in this chapter, too! If you find any, send me a message and I'll fix it! Thanks!**

**~Niyati**


	13. The Thoughts Of Truth

**Oh my...I'm so sorry I've gone AWOL on you all, but, let's just say, things've gotten rocky in my house lately, so, I haven't been able to write that much. I know this chapter's really really short and all, but I promise the next chapter will be longer!  
****O**

**Oh, and if any of you are reading _Zero Requiem, _do not fear, I've not forgotten about it. I'm remaking the chapter I was going to put up, so it's longer. And I'm bugging Thirteen Day Rule about _Fourth Trial, _so, yeah.**

**And this chapter was not edited by my Beta yet, she's on a trip and doesn't have any internet access. So, here it goes!**

**

* * *

**

**Thoughts**

**Chapter 13: The Thoughts Of Truth**

"Tifa? Are you okay?"

My head whipped up as I heard a small, quiet voice break through my thoughts. It sounded so scared and broken...but had strength hidden deep, waiting to be used.

_Wow, poet much, Tifa?_

I stood up, hiding the shaking in my legs, and put on a smile, "Good morning, Denzel!" I said as brightly as I could, "Do you want something to eat? Is Marlene awake?"

He still looked ruffled from sleep, and I felt a pang of guilt for forgetting about them. He replied slowly, "Marlene's still asleep. I can go wake her up, if you want."

A true smile formed on my lips, and I playfully mussed his hair and said, "Thanks, Denz. I'll go start some breakfast."

He rolled his eyes and while trying to fix his hair he mumbled something along the lines of, "And here I thought Yuffie was crazy."

Choosing to ignore his muffled comment, I found myself in the kitchen getting cereal and bowls out. Just as I poured the milk, a smirking Denzel and a fuming Marlene walked in.

Raising an eyebrow at Denzel, he shrugged. I rolled my eyes and said, "Okay, guys, eat up. I have to go make some calls."

I walked into the bar portion of the house, and, finding a broom, started sweeping up the mess I'd made. After that was done, and I put the broom back, and, glanced at my hands. They were scratched and throbbing, but, no one would pay any mind to them. I sighed in relief.

I walked to the front of the bar, and, picking up my cell phone from its resting place on the counter, I dialed Zack's number. After a set of rings, I heard, "Hiya! You've reached my voice mail! That means I'm off doing something and can't reach the phone right now, but please leave a mess--"

I pressed 'end' during the middle of the voice mail, and stared at the screen. Zack _always _picks up his phone, and, for him not to...

I shook my head. Perhaps it was off, or he didn't hear it.

Yeah, that's why.

I searched through my contacts for Cloud's number then, and, hoping for him to pick up, I pressed 'talk.'

"Hello?" A gruff voice answered. I smiled for an unknown reason.

"Hey, Cloud. It's Tifa."

"Tifa? Is something wrong?" Now his voice had a tint of worry and concern in it, which made my heart flutter.

"Well, no more wrong then normal," I replied dryly, "But, I'm fine. The kids are up and eating breakfast," I paused for a second to lean my elbows on the counter. "How're things with you? Any leads?"

It took him a second to respond, "No, not really. Yuffie's...rounded some people up." His tone was wry, and I had to laugh, "And he's called her, too." _That _wiped my good mood clean away.

My heart thudded against my chest, but _not _in that nice way it was just a second ago. "He...he called me, too. I kind of...snapped at him."

I counted thirty seconds before he spoke again, "_What?" _Just the tone of his voice sent chills down my back, for it was one of pure ice.

"Cloud!" Startled, I continued, "Cloud, hey. I'm alright, he's just pushing my buttons. I'm fine--" Just then, Marlene came in and I changed what I was saying mid-sentence, "And here's Marlene! Say hi to Marlene."

I handed the phone to a surprised Marlene, and, even though she was holding the phone now, I could him say, "Hi, Marlene. Did you sleep well?" I heard him ask in a much friendlier voice than he was using just a second ago.

I was relieved he didn't ask any questions and went right along with it. It reminded me that I wasn't alone in this, whatever _this _was.

Next Day

(Wednesday)

Stretching my hands upward, I groaned at the stiffness and slight pang of pain in my abdomen. Today, when we all met up for the meeting at the end of the day, I was determined to get them to let me go out and help them search. I could arrange for Aria's parents to take care of Denzel and Marlene.

Bending down, I touched my toes, and I could feel the slight burning in my back. When I was level again, I rolled my shoulders, getting the tension out of them.

Everyone was going to be here shortly, reporting what little they found. I had to admit, Zanaku was excellent at covering his tracks. We'd barely gotten any solid facts in these three days, and I was starting to get worried. What happens if we _couldn't _find him before the weeks end? What would he even _do? _He was never that specific. He never even made any _demands _either, now that I think about it. It's like he's just toying with us.

_You know he is, _that insistent voice in my head reminded me.

Sighing, I glanced out the window again. Nothing there. _Ugh, _I thought, _whenever this is done and over with I'm __never__ going to complain about being busy again. _It _was _getting annoying not having anything to do. Even with Marlene and Denzel upstairs doing God knows what, it was really quiet.

Fiddling with the glasses behind the bar, I jumped slightly when my phone rang Zack's ring tone. I grinned slightly, and, hitting the 'talk' button, I said into the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey, Teef! I'm with Cloud, Yuffie and Aeris! I can't find Vincent, Cid or Barret anywhere, so, we're just gonna come in and get the meeting started. Okay?"

"Oh, that's fine. Where were they searching today, anyways?"

Silence, then, trying to be nonchalant about it, he said, "Oh, just the 3rd District."

I blinked, then, I yelled into the phone, "Zack! Why didn't you try to stop them?! That's _dangerous, _even if we all went!"

The 3rd District was what everyone called 'the bad part of town,' and for good reason. There were murderers there, drugs were sold, and the place was a dump. It really was a danger just to pass through, and most people, at least people with any common sense, stayed far away.

Then there were my friends.

"Hey!" Zack yelled back, "Don't give me that look that I know you're wearing! I tried to stop them, but they insisted. They said that every place had to be looked through thoroughly, so, they went together." Then, softer, calmer, "They're fine, Tifa. Don't worry. They can take care of themselves. So, do you believe me?"

Sighing, I sagged into a stool attached to the bar, "Yeah, okay. I needed to talk to you guys anyways. I'll see you soon." Zack hit the 'end' button first, which left me hearing the toneless '_beep, beep, beep!' _before I pressed the 'end' button rather roughly. I had the strangest feeling that I was being pushed aside, but, I knew that was wrong because they needed me for--

For _what?_

I was rather shocked by the notion that I was _actually _useless to them. I mean, I _felt _useless at the moment, but, that was understandable, right? Because I couldn't _do _anything right now, because of my 'injuries.' But--

The door slamming open broke me from my thoughts, and, immediately, my first reaction was to smile, without even knowing who it was.

When I saw who it was, I was confused. I had never seen him before, but, I was put on edge before I even saw his face. There was this weird design on his forearm. It wrapped in on itself, almost shaped like a shield. Little branches were, well, _branching _from its base forming, looking like branches from a tree. In the middle were the letter 'uw' in capital letters.

Wait. I almost smacked my forehead in that cliché way for not realizing it sooner.

_Under-worlders._

Clenching my fists, forgetting to grab my gloves, I hissed out between clenched teeth, "What the _hell! _Zanaku sent you, didn't he? That bastard. Now there's you. _Who are you, _another cliché bad guy to kick my ass?" My anger made me say stupid things, I'll admit, but I was seeing red I was so full of rage.

"O-oh!" he said in a mocking way, making me clench my fists even tighter, "And here I thought you were going to burst into tears when I came in the door! You're just full of surprises, aren't you? I should've listened to Zanaku better. This actually could get interesting."

I screeched, "Bastard! What do you want?!"

"Well, I might as well tell you my name, he didn't specifically tell me not to," He mumbled to himself. I just now paid attention to his other features. He had long copper colored hair that went to his chin, and covered most of his face, but I could still see enough to see that he had glasses and an evil smirk to his mouth. He was of okay build, but you could obviously see he wasn't a fighter. He was just slightly taller than me. But, no matter all of that, he had this air about him that made you think he was in control of everything.

All in all, he looked and acted terrifying, and he knew that fact and used it to its fullest.

"My name is Serge. It's good to meet you, Tifa," His eyes sparkled, like him saying my name was forbidden but he did it anyways. I growled.

I straightened my stance, unclenched my fists, and closed my eyes briefly. _Okay, Tifa, _the Thoughtful Tifa in me said, _you've got a chance to get to the bottom of this. Don't waste it from anger. Don't rush and fight, get __information__ from him._

Opening my eyes, I smiled at him sweetly, while I had the satisfaction of noting the confusion and surprise flashing across his face before it went back to that horrifying smirk.

"Well, Serge," I said, sweeping my arms around the room, "you're probably looking for Cloud, right? As you can see, he's not here, he would've been by my side the moment you stepped in the door."

He blinked a moment at my forwardness, but then snorted, "He _that _full of himself? I didn't come for him, I came for _you." _

My immediate reaction was to yell things at him that would've made Cid blush, but I bit my tongue and sat down at a stool. "Really? Well, tell Zanaku I'm flattered." Another sickly sweet smile.

Serge was studying me intently, obviously wondering where this instant emotion change came from. I raised my eyebrows at him innocently.

"Huh," Was all he said.

"So," I started casually, "what do you need, Serge?" I studied his reaction intently. His stance tightened slightly, a sure sign of me hitting a sore spot.

"Well," he started, "Zanaku sent me."

Translation: Zanaku sent him to kill me.

"Really? Well, tell him I say 'hi,' would you?"

He didn't say anything back to me, so, I took the initiative, "You know, he's got all my friend's all on mad dash around Midgar. I can't even help them! I feel so useless just sitting around here. I wish I do _something..." _I trailed off purposefully, adding an 'all-woe-is-me' sigh.

"Well..." Serge hesitated, unsure of whether he should share this bit of information me, "I could..."

"Yes?"

"I'll tell you this much. Think of it as a teaser," he smirked again, which I began to think was his basic expression, "remember this much, if you're brain is capable: your first instinct is always wrong, and whatever you do, you cannot save the last person you wanted to save from death."

* * *

**Yeah, I left it on a sorta cliffhanger. Does anyone know what Serge's foreshadowing means?**

**Ooo! Serge shows up! I imagined him of the 'computer-geek' air. I'm a major computer geek, so, it wasn't that hard. XD**

**Until I hopefully update sooner~**

**Niyati~**


	14. Not Hopeless Yet? No Life In The Eyes

**Yes, I'm still alive. This actually took me the whole time since the last time I updated to write! Scary, huh? I rewrote it once, then my cat deleted the beginning...Yeah, suffice to say she was thrown out of my room for awhile. Big thanks to Valk for introducing me to the em-dash! Oh, and I'm thinking about rewriting Thoughts when it's done. Cuz' the first few chapters are crappy at best. ^_^ So, any thoughts on that? (Pun not intended, but well aware of it.)**

**Anyways, here are some notes you should be aware of!**

**1.) Tifa is kinda OOC in this chapter. Just the way it was written feels...different. Weird.**

**2.) I completely made up The Square. I have absolutely no idea if there's actually a place like that in Edge. Which leads me to my next one.**

**3.) Please, please tell me if my dates and/or places are wrong! I've never even seen the either games. I've only watched Complete.**

**4.) Nanaki just decided to randomly become part of my story. I tried to convince him otherwise, but he was rather persistant.**

**5.) So...yeah. I think that's everything. Thanks for reading this!**

**DISCLAIMER: The only thing I own is Serge, but, who'd want to steal a bad guy?**

**Thoughts**

**Chapter 14: Not Hopeless Yet? (No Life In The Eyes)**

"And that's all. Just that," I explained for the umpteenth time as I leaned up against the bar counter, my arms crossed; the only thing anyone could use to identify my frustration.

It was a few hours after I had my little 'chat' with Serge, and now Vincent, Barrett, and Cid were finally here. They came back unscathed except for maybe a few cuts here and there, but they were fine. I, on the other hand, was a tiny bit freaked out by _his _visit. Just a tiny bit.

"You're sure, Teefs? Positive nothing else he said could link him to _anywhere?" _As a reply to the desperate voice of Zack, I nodded stiffly, not trusting my voice to remain a level tone.

Ripples of agitated, worried, and disappointed murmurs rang throughout the bar, only adding to my annoyance. Only Nanaki was somewhat level-headed on the situation, but even his tail thumped against the floor in an erratic rhythm.

After a beat of silence, Vincent asked, "What now?"

No one answered; sighing, I did just that. "We continue searching. What else _can _we do?"

"Tell us again, Tifa," Cloud started, "What he told you."

My jaw tightened. I didn't want to think back to what he told me. It made my brain pound in great flashes. Serge's words confused me more than anything recently, including Aeris' strange behavior. I thought of asking him childishly, "Do I have to?" But, I decided it against it. "Okay, he said something about my first instinct being wrong, and that I can't save the person I want to save."

Blank stares all across the room. I would've snickered at the sight if it wasn't so frightening. So, this was truly it? No one knew what to do? Was our situation that dire?

As usual, Cloud took control by standing up next to me. His clothed arm brushed up against my bare one. He left a strange tingle, and I instinctively grabbed my arm and cradled it to my chest. No one paid me any mind, thinking my stab wound was bothering me. He began in an authoritative voice, "Okay, people. It's halfway through the week. We have four days, not including today. We hadn't really found out anything concrete yet. We don't know what Zanaku's going after and we don't know where he is or how to stop him," he paused and everyone held their breaths, "But, it's not hopeless yet. We still can find him. We still have a chance." That was probably the most I'd ever heard Cloud say in one sitting—or standing, however you looked at it.

With a strange nod, he sat back down. The muddled emotions swirled throughout the room; dismay, bittersweet happiness, hope.

Glancing around, everyone looked lost. Aeris' head was resting on Cloud's shoulder. Yuffie was hugging her middle, shaking slightly. Vincent was—as he always was lately—staring at Yuffie. Just then, he did something that totally shocked me. He wrapped his non-clad-in-gold arm around her shoulders and her shaking ceased immediately. I was strangely touched by the moment, and I looked away, to give them some semblance of privacy. No one looked ready to organize a plan of action, so I naturally stepped up to the plate.

Clapping my hands in a theatrical way of getting attention, I spoke loudly, "Listen up, everyone! We have to organize another search, but we need to do it differently." I picked up my pad of paper and pen that was lying on the bar counter and began to write stuff down as I was talking, "Their group is supposedly called the _Under-worlders, _with Zanaku as their leader. So, we should search _underground, _right? It's a shot, anyways." I gave a half-smile to everyone, whose jaws were in danger of falling off. _Yes, _I thought testily, _I can think, too. I can help._

Then, bless him, Vincent rang out, "You heard her. Let's go."

Yuffie

Slipping away had been easy as pie, like Marlene would say. I giggled at the saying. How is pie even easy, anyways? It's very hard to come by if you don't make it yourself, but it was de-lish, so it was worth all the trouble. Deciding to run since I had to be back in an hour for our meeting, I made it to a road that led to where I said we'd meet yesterday. Checking my cell, I muttered, "Crap!" under my breath and forced myself to run faster. It was already 12:13! Cursing in multi-colors, I finally made it to the center of Edge, known by all as The Square. It really wasn't much, but it was in better shape than most of the houses in Edge. It was kinda run down around the edges. Edges! Hehe! It had almost a loved feeling to it, y'know? There were apartment buildings marking the edges of the square, and many street paths led to the center, where a _humongous_ fountain laid. There were intricate designs of angels and devils carved into the stone. A single woman in a praying position was in the middle. She always reminded me of Aeris for some reason.

Shaking off my thoughts, my gaze settled on the mass—they could not possibly be called group—of teenagers that had doubled in size since the last I saw them. They were on all ends of the spectrum; tall, short, blonde, brunette. Most of them were of okay muscular build, and, all in all, I couldn't help but be impressed.

"Whoah!" Standing up on the fountain, I had a pretty good view of everyone, and I put my hands on my hips. "Since when did you guys get so big?"

A few scattered laughs echoed around The Square, and I grinned. "So, you guys spread the word, then?"

People shouted a combination of, "Duh!" "Yeah!" and "Obviously!" I laughed at their replies and decided to get right to the point.

"Okay, guys, my friends and I need your help. We've got this totally badass dude trying to take over Edge," I had to kind of fill in the blanks—Shh! It's not technically lying!—A few gasps were heard; these people were old enough to remember what happened to Midgar, so of course they'd help! "And we need _your _help to stop them! Are we going to sit around and let Edge be taken over, or are we going to fight?"

Roars of approval reached my ears. My grin widened; now _this _is what progress tasted like.

Tifa

After much yelling, some cussing, and a few thrown objects, I was going, too. Everyone besides Aeris and Yuffie thought I should stay home, but we insisted. I _was _the one who came up with the idea of searching underground, so I _should_ get to go.

But, since I wasn't going to be home to watch the kids, Aria's foster parents had to watch them. Marlene and Denzel wouldn't protest too much, anyways. They were like siblings. They knew each other better than anyone.

But, what I _didn't _think of was _how _to get underground. We couldn't just start digging, hoping to somehow magically come across their hide-out, now could we? There had to be an opening somewhere. After foraging for hours, we had to go home; tired, hungry, and empty-handed.

I was at a loss. My idea, back in the bar, seemed fool-proof. It made logical sense, didn't it? Look _underground_ for _Under-worlders. _It made sense to me, anyways. I was so sure it would work, I didn't even _think_ of my plan failing. I was missing something, but _what was it? _This was all a gigantic puzzle, but I didn't have all the pieces yet. There were clues not yet found.

As I was making food to eat—sandwiches and tea—I, again, apologized to everyone, "I really am sorry, guys. I thought my lead was solid."

"No, no, Tifa," Zack started, "It _was _a good guess. We tried; it didn't work. Oh, well. Back to the drawing board, then."

At that moment, I bristled over Zack's blatant non-belief in me. It wasn't just my plan, but _me. _I wasn't one to get mad easily, I knew that much about myself, but I've been mad a lot lately. _Maybe it's because everything has been so infuriating lately._

Distracting myself from such thoughts, I called upstairs loudly, "Kids! Dinner's ready!" After a moment of nothing happening, I heard trampling feet that could've rivaled Cloud's motorcycle in noise volume. And, let me tell you, that thing was _loud._

"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear," I muttered silently to myself, as, speak of the devil, Cloud walked in with Aeris in tow. They both looked mussed, Aeris' cheeks were flushed and her lips were redder than normal. You can figure out the rest. I felt a sharp pang run through my chest, and I shivered despite myself.

"Tifa!" A small voice wailed beside me. I knelt down to Marlene's level and raised an eyebrow in question, "Denzel stole my moogle!"

Faking anger, I put my hands on my hips and glared playfully at Denzel, who looked sheepish, "Denzel, give your sister back her moogle! You know it's not nice to take things that aren't yours!"

I heard laughter behind me, and I saw Zack practically on the floor, head in hands, and laughing hysterically. My eyebrows raised more, but I didn't question anything. After all, it was _Zack _we were talking about.

I watched as Denzel, albeit reluctantly, reached behind to his back to pull out the object in question. I smiled as Marlene squealed in delight, taking her moogle and throwing herself at her brother. It was such an innocent exchange, I couldn't help but feel brightened no matter our circumstances now.

After twenty minutes dedicated to filling stomachs—besides Marlene and Denzel, they had already eaten—I checked the time. The clock read 9:14. Yawning, I shuffled the tired kids upstairs to their bedroom. Tucking them in, I kissed both their foreheads, although Denzel protested slightly.

Sighing, I turned around to walk back downstairs. I flicked off the light and turned around, starting down the stairs.

As I picked my way through the mass of feet, I found myself sitting down besides Cloud. I felt him stiffen slightly beside me and I winced mentally. I knew he was thinking of our almost kiss. _I _hadn't really been able to push it out of my mind, either, no matter how hard I tried. I wished...What did I wish? That it hadn't happened? That...it _did _happen? But, that would be wrong, wouldn't it? Wanting to kiss a boyfriend that wasn't mine. But...Cloud looked like he wanted to kiss me, too. _No, _I shook myself of the thought, _that was impossible. No friggin' way._

**Next Day**

**(Thursday)**

"So...Are we 'jus gonna sit around 'ere and do notin'?" My gaze settled on a befuddled Barrett. I knew what he meant.

Everyone had stayed the night. After the kids went to bed, we stayed up for hours later. We were arguing about what we should do. Should we ask someone else for help? _Who _else? WRO? Could they help? Just as we were coming to a decision that, yes, WRO could help us, Nanaki helpfully told us that Reeve was out on an important mission just south of Junon. We all just kind of gave up for the night at that point. But somehow, we had all fallen asleep in the bar. We were all groaning and moaning this morning to the point where Marlene and Denzel _both _woke up. We had to assure them that, yes, we were fine, and that, no, we did not want them to call a doctor. Once that crisis was averted, I made everyone a quick breakfast consisting of fruit. I just wasn't up for something that required more than five minutes of attention to make. After everyone finished, we just sat there while the kids went next door to play.

That lead us back to Barrett's question. I was still trying to get over my failure from yesterday, I didn't even _really _hear his question the first time he asked it. Apparently, I wasn't alone, for no one else spoke. Then, speaking louder, he asked, seemingly daring anyone to suggest to not do anything, "Well?"

_Nothing. _No one said _anything. _It's like we were dead to the world, because that's the reactions we gave. Anger flashed in Barrett's eyes and he stood up, knocking over the stool he was sitting on, and yelled at us, "The hell wit you people! Look at yourselves! Sittin' dere, doing notin'! You aren't even tryin' to come up wit any ideas to stop dis friggin' mad son of a-"

"Barrett." Of all people, Vincent spoke up. Suddenly, just like that, Barrett's whole personality changed, and he fell into the stool next to the one that was lying on the ground, deflated. No one bothered to pick it up.

Barrett mumbled an apology, which was accepted without words. No one was hurt by his outburst. We all felt like him. Tired, helpless, and desperately angry with _him._

It was then that I heard the sniffle.

It would have been left unnoticed if anyone had been talking. It was quiet enough to not recognize it if you weren't listening intently. We all were.

Immediately, all eyes were on Yuffie, who was the source of the sound. She looked up, sheepish, but made no move to say anything. No one else did anything that indicated that they would say or do anything, either.

My motherly instincts kicked in. I jumped down from my perch on a stool, and I felt eyes on _me, _then. Rushing to Yuffie's side, I slid in next to her. As soon as I had my arms around her, she burst into hot tears. They ran down my arms, leaving a burning sensation. But, that wasn't what made me feel so bad.

More often than that I forget that Denzel is a kid, I forget that Yuffie is only a teenager. She's helped save the Planet from Sephiroth on multiple occasions. She's the upbeat, happy-go-lucky girl that keeps us together. When tensions run high, she always does something that breaks the ice. She can get a whole crowd riled up enough to organize an attack party to stop a madman! She had told everyone what she had done with the crowd. For Shiva's sake, she's the White Rose of Wutai!

And here she is, bawling her eyes out. I felt every sob rack my body. No matter how much materia she stole, or how childish she acted, I still loved her. I loved everyone here. Which is why we couldn't give up. Why I_ wouldn't_ give up.

Handing her off to Vincent, who looked highly concerned and had an almost imperceptible pink tint to his cheeks, I stood up sharply. My hard eyes trained on everyone. I knew the hopelessness. I understood we had almost no chance of saving Edge from whatever Zanaku planned. I knew _all _that.

But I opened my voice and I started in the first strong, not anger-tainted voice I'd used in a while, "I _know_. I know that everything is bleak. That we have almost no chance of stopping Zanaku. But does that mean we should abandon hope? _No. _It means we should fight even more. We cannot predict the future; so why condemn ourselves before we are absolutely sure that we can do nothing to stop it? We have to-" Right in the middle of my little speech, an odd breaking and snapping sound emitted.

Startled, everyone stared at Cloud, who stood in the middle of the room, panting. His stool that he was leaning on was in splinters on the ground. His gaze was on the floor, his shoulders hunched. Shocked, and without any of the conviction I felt moments ago, I let out a strangled, "Cloud?"

His eyes raised and settled on me. Sharp gasps of horror fill the room. My hand instinctively reached up and covered my mouth to smother any sounds that could get out. His eyes were the warm paradise blue that everyone knew, but his pupils were in thin slits that radiated malevolence. His shoulders hunched more, making him seem even more animal like. There was no life in his eyes.

I was on my feet in an instant; I shook his shoulders roughly, but he didn't respond. He really was starting to scare me. I shook him even more. Nothing. Absolutely zero response.

Then a crazy thing happened. Denzel was opening the door to the bar, and I was saying, "Denzel! What are you doing ba-" And I saw it in him, too, and my heart broke.

His eyes were dead and slitted.

Everyone was silent and staring at the duo. Their eyes met and a secret message was swapped between them. As Cloud took a step in Denzel's direction, I cried out and flung myself in front of him. He didn't even slow down. His arm shot out and shoved me aside, and I fell down on the ground quite less than gracefully. I couldn't make any sounds; my throat was locked tight.

No one did anything as they made their way out the door. No one ran out of the bar to stop them as we heard Fenrir start up.

And then they were gone.

**So...yeah. Things start picking up right about now.**

**Review? Pleaseth?**

**~Truth**


	15. Pieces

**Hai, _finally. _Has it really been four months? Can anyone say 'oops?'**

**But I do have a kinda/sorta plausible excuse! I wrote the entire chapter, hated it, then rewrote half of it. I left it alone for awhile, then finished. Now it's just been rotting in my computer. Anyways! I, of course, owe all my editing fixes to Valk!**

**Disclaimer: I solemnly swear I do not own FFVII.**

* * *

**Thoughts**

**Chapter 15: Pieces**

We sat in what could only be called stunned silence. We did absolutely nothing; just stared at the still-open door.

No one moved. No one breathed. Except me.

The puzzle pieces were all laid out for me. If I thought hard enough, I could figure it out. If I thought enough, I could rescue Cloud and Denzel.

But something was missing. Something very important. A variable that made the whole situation make sense.

I realized with a start that everyone was staring at me. Barrett and Cid looked slightly pissed off, while Aeris and Zack just looked utterly confused. Yuffie, I saw, had wormed her way under Vincent's cloak, who was blushing madly. Nanaki was snuggled against Aeris' leg, looking thoroughly comfortable.

I could not begin to fathom the sick, twisted things that made sense to Zanaku, or question Serge's reasons to come here and taunt me with riddles. I wouldn't even try to understand them.

But I would have to. Because Zanaku was obviously the culprit behind this whole mess. What had that idiotic letter said? Something about missions...and killing Cloud. _Killing _Cloud. So, how did Denzel fit into that at all? What was...the reasoning in kidnapping them? And... he mentioned...that he had a new target. Namely, me. I wasn't too worried at the moment, but...How did _I _manage to piss him off? By fighting him? By _beating _his sorry ass?

I didn't believe that for a second. Zanaku just didn't work that way. He was the cool, calm, and collected evil guy that he had been when he first decided to take waltz into Seventh Heaven. I knew he didn't want me dead out of spite. There was something deeper than that.

Our job, in order to save Cloud and Denzel, was to figure out what the hell that motive was.

Standing up swiftly, I stared at my hands in front of me. I inhaled sharply, and swallowed thickly. This was all just too much. Too much in too little time.

"...Tifa?" Aeris' voice penetrated my thoughts. She was, I noted, pressed up against Zack, with his arm around her. Oddly, I didn't feel angry or pained at the blatant comforting taking place, only slightly...disappointed.

_Um... _the Selfish Tifa spoke, _isn't that supposed to be _me?

I blinked, realizing I was staring. Barrett cleared his throat self-consciously, and I heard shuffling behind me. I felt a large and calloused hand wrap around my upper arm, and I glanced behind me to see Barret staring at me with caution and concern in his eyes. They spoke things that he never would have been able to stutter out loud, and it made a little bit of the weight dissipate.

"We need to figure out why and how Cloud and Denzel were...over-taken that way," I spoke softly yet firmly, not letting any cracks into my voice. I skipped the formalities of addressing and trying to comfort everyone; the only comfort we needed was answers. And I planned on getting them.

Every single one.

Aeris

Zack was warm.

When Barrett got up and stood next to Tifa, I noticed that they had an entire conversation without words. I thought that was kind of neat.

I always wanted to do that with Cloud, but never got the chance.

Like he knew I was thinking about him, Zack tightened his hold on my waist. I barely held back my blush. It was so...so Zack-like to know miniscule things like that. I sighed and pushed myself harder into his side.

It made me feel slightly guilty to be in Zack's embrace when Denzel and Cloud were in danger. Possibly life-threatening.

Of course it was life-threatening.

_Just like old times._

"We need to figure out why and how Cloud and Denzel were...over-taken that way," Tifa spoke with authority and assurances. I let out a little smile as I watched her talk about all the facts that we knew. She was standing tall and had a steady eye. She was a perfect born leader next to Cloud. He was a great leader also, but he didn't really have the way Tifa did. She was tough when the situation demanded it.

And this situation was definitely doing the demanding.

"So? Do we know what the hell's going on?" Tifa was staring hard at all of us.

No response.

I balked, trying to find a loophole in everything, a series of actions that made sense.

None came to mind.

After a few more moments of silence, Cid started yapping, "This ain't gonna get us anywhere, that's for damn sure."

Surprise took over all of our expressions. Cid actually saying something intelligent was a nice change.

He stared at our bewildered faces, and spoke, "'The hell?"

Tifa cracked a small grin, but continued on, "Yeah, Cid, it isn't."

"So..." Yuffie's small voice cut in, "what is?"

No one answered.

"We have to-" my voice started and stopped before I realized I had started talking, "find others who...might've noticed something..." my voice faltered as I realized everyone was staring at me.

"No...That's a good idea, Aeris," Tifa said, a thoughtful expression on her face, "We might not be the only ones who all this weird stuff keeps happening to." She nodded, as is confirming her thoughts to her words.

Ridiculously, I felt a shred of gratification run through me at her agreement of my idea.

"So..." Zack started, "who're we going to ask?"

"Anybody. Everyone. It doesn't really matter. Call me if you find anything interesting."

Immediately, the vibe in the room changed. Excitement shot through us, and we were all out the door in seconds. Zack slipped his hand through mine, and we ran down the streets together.

Tifa

I wasn't exactly sure what I said or did, but in seconds, I was the only person in the room. Even Nanaki had left.

I was feeling energized; energized and with a goal. That in itself was something new to me as of late.

Rushing out of the door, I almost forgot to lock it. Chiding myself for stupidity, I hurriedly locked it and started walking up and down the streets, glancing at every person I saw. Most people looked normal enough; scruffy, grim, but not distraught.

Even through the confidence I had oozed minutes before, I didn't exactly know what I was looking for. People crying and screaming through the streets? Yeah, that was likely.

Crossing streets at random, I crossed paths with Barret. I opened my mouth to ask, he shook his head, I snapped my mouth closed. He put his hand on my shoulder, staring at my face for a few seconds, then continued on without uttering a word.

I idly patted my pocket to check if my cell phone was in it. My pockets were empty.

_Damn! _I must've left it in the house on accident, in our hurry to get out, forgotten.

_Of course_, _just my luck._

As I was trotting back to the bar, I passed Aria's house. I glanced at the closed windows, no lights on besides in one room. I found that a bit odd, even if it seemed perfectly normal to others. I slowed down slightly, debating if I should bother them to check that nothing was wrong.

I decided that it was better than dealing with the lingering thought all day.

Walking up the yard, I raised my hand to knock on the door when it burst open. There was Aria's mom, her shoulders shaking, tear streaks running down her face.

To say the least, I was shocked.

Her eyes settled on me, and the tears started coming faster. She threw herself at me, and I raised my arms instinctively to catch her.

"Sonata! What...what's wrong?"

She was attached to my neck, and her words were muffled when she said, "Aria...she...s-she's gone!" Another wail escaped her.

I patted her back absently, staring at her golden-brown hair.

It all suddenly made so much sense.

* * *

**Aaaaaand a cliff-hanger. Ooo, my favorite.**

**Review to make my kitties happy?**

**-Leelz**


	16. All For Him

**Okay, subtract the 1...carry over the two...And it's been almost three months. But I have a valid excuse, to those who have been reading this train-wreck! My epically awesome Beta's computer died. It was killed! Her poor baby! And so I was waiting, and then I realized I hadn't uploaded this chapter and well...let's just blame this all on my hellish memory, 'kay?**

**And I don't think I ever thanked everyone who was either reviewed, favorite'd, alert'd, or given me some good stuff to work off of. I'm sorry, guys! I meant to! I swear! But I'm thanking you now. -hugs- I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU GUYS.**

**Disclaimer: I will never own XII. If I did, see what would have happened?

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**

**Thoughts**

**Chapter 16: All For Him**

I smiled a bitter smile. It made so much sense. So much twisted sense.

I looked down at Sonata—she was at least five inches shorter than me—and asked her, "Sonata, do you trust me?"

She blinked uncomprehendingly at me a few times, wondering why in Minerva I was asking her something so out of the blue. She had a right to be confused in my sudden change in attitude, and she stuttered through, "O-of course?"

"I'll get her back, I promise you, Sonata."

I patted her on the back and started running before she could respond.

Bounding into the bar, I swiped my phone up from the counter and pressed speed-dial for Barrett, bouncing on the balls of my feet, unable to contain myself. When he answered, I cut off his hello by bursting out, "Barrett! I know why they were taken! I know! Tell the others to get back here _now_!"

I hung up, thoroughly cutting him off again.

Barely ten minutes later, the bar was filled with panting and sweating people. I began my brilliant epiphany. They were drop-jaw shocked by the time I was done. They weren't shocked by the idea itself, but why they didn't think of it sooner. It seemed so obvious once pointed out.

"You're sayin' those motherfuckers brain-washed everyone that had that goddamn stigma? Holy...holy shit." Cid was the most shocked.

I nodded, "Yeah...it just...makes _so much sense, _right?" was my rhetorical answer. It kept repeating itself in my head, that one line, the line that meant too much to be forgotten.

Beats of contemplative silence. Them rolling the idea around in their head's, pondering the correctness of it. Feeling the rough edges smooth away their last concerns. Within the minute, everyone was on the same page as I was.

"So," I began, the cogs and wheels turning in my brain, "where would Zanaku be able to hide hundreds of people without being detected?"

That was the question. While Yuffie opened her mouth to answer, Vincent spoke before she could, "Abandoned buildings on the outskirts of Edge?"

It seemed solid enough. Except one thing. "Anyone would hear hundreds of people, even from a distance."

Vincent locked eyes with me, "Underground?"

I gazed at him, him and his intensity, his surety. And I knew he was right. I gave a short nod. "It fits."

"And how do you propose we find this?" Nanaki asked harshly, "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

We all thought about it for a second. Then Aeris spoke up again, "It wouldn't be like Zanaku to leave us completely on our own."

"Yeah!" Zack nodded in agreement, "He's nothing if not thorough."

"And a sneaky bastard..." I muttered under my breath. I pondered it. It sounded right. I thought about how he knew just how to make me tick. His absolute precision.

"So we go lookin' in a fuckin' haystack? Are you guys shit outta yer mind?" Cid bellowed, "I want to find that kid and Spike as much as the next goddamn person, but I ain't goin' if we don't know what the hell we're lookin' for!"

Uneasiness crept around the room. We all knew that was the problem under everything we'd done. We just didn't know what to look for, how to go on from here, what to make of everything...We just didn't know.

An idea struck me again. I let a smile creep across my face. _Two _epiphanies within an hour? I had to be on a roll!

"I know what to look for."

xXx

Zanaku scanned the room, noting with distaste that most of the people filling it were filthy, thin, and sick-ridden. In simpler terms, they were useless. Absolutely useless.

He spun on his heel to face the cowering Serge, "You _idiot! _These people are useless! Explain to me your reasoning on gathering the sick and decrepit?" Zanaku shook him. "Why in Shiva's name did you not assemble the strong?"

Serge pushed his glasses back up on his nose and stuttered, "I-it doesn't quite work like that, Zan-Zanaku, erm, sir."

"Yes, yes, I know how it works," he replied hastily. It wasn't supposed to be this way. He was supposed to have an army of well-abled adults who would listen and follow commands without question. What he had was so much different. There were the elderly and the young, and then the sick and the weak. Weak. All weak. Not what he needed. What he had to have to for his plans to work.

And his plans _always _worked.

Serge was wringing his hands, sneaking glances at the people far below them. Zanaku scoffed and trudged towards the railing. "Ah, just get out of my sight, you fool." He lowered his head a bit in respect and fled from the overhang.

Even Serge was useless! He couldn't do anything right! A small part of Zanaku's mind—a very small and insignificant part—acknowledged that it wasn't really his fault. The brain-waves attracted people who had geostigma. He should have known how stupid that was. Of course people who had geostigma would be feeble and would be in poverty. It was a careless mistake on his part, a careless mistake that he never made.

His eyes roved over the people again, but this time he saw what at first glance he did not. Through the thousands of people there, he saw one very, very special person.

A blonde that had spiky hair and blue eyes that were in slits, standing next to a little brunette boy. Cloud Strife.

And Zanaku smirked.

Cloud

_Flashes of heat hit him in a steady beat. With every wave he felt like he was falling but standing still. His mind was filled with a static that wouldn't clear. Who was he? He didn't remember. Why was he here?_

_ He felt more than saw the people around him. He reworded his question. Why were they __**all **__here?_

_ He thought about trying to talk, to find out what was happening, but another wave hit him, and he lost his train of thought._

_ What was he trying to say? Do? Another wave, and he forgot even those questions._

_ A pain flashed across his skull, but he did not make a peep or move an inch. He was immobile. He was unable to speak. Why? Why couldn't he fight back? Like...like he thought he used to?_

_ Flash._

_ Indistinguishable images flashed at him, twisting and swirling with faces and places and things he'd done and things he'd do. He didn't understand them, and he didn't remember them when the next wave hit him. He wanted to collapse. He wanted to keel over._

_ But he stayed still._

Zack

Seeing Tifa like this...hurt. A lot.

Seeing her so strong and so independent and so in control and so _proud to be Tifa Lockhart dammit _hurt worse than I'd imagined, but it especially stung where my hand was connected with Aeris'.

She was leading us to wherever the hell she was leading us to. After very little convincing on her part, we had followed along silently.

We didn't speak about what we were going to do when and if we discovered them. We couldn't barge in and figure out how the hell they were being controlled and _destroy _said-control item _and _fend off Zanaku and Serge, who was most definitely going to put up a helluva fight.

We couldn't face the facts that we might not win. That we'd lose. Because all of us hated losing, and if it was Cloud and Denzel we were losing...that just made it hurt a gazillion times worse.

And besides. Losing was never an option.

It seemed like we were over. Tifa and I, I mean. We never had a breakup, but we were never really together. She never yelled at me or got mad at me when she had all rights to, but that was just her. She just...moved on. Or did she move on? Did she not have to move on, because she was never in any danger of falling for me? Because her heart belonged to someone else?

Staring at her face, her eyes, her everything, I knew who she was hung up on. Why she was able to go through all this crap and still pull through, who she'd always go through such crap and trouble for. Who her heart would always belong to.

She was doing this for Cloud.

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**Sorry for the constant POV change. It was needed. I think.**

**Make the angry thoughts in my head shut up by reassuring me that this isn't a waste of my time?**

**And Merry late Christmas/Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and any other holiday I forgot!**

**-TU**


	17. We Haven't Given Up, Part I

**Hello there. **

**-insert excuses here-**

**Okay. Glad we got that out of the way. But really. My school's been cracking down on its students, homework wise. I have a major test I have to study for and it's already nine o'clock. But anyways~ I suppose Thoughts only has one or two more chapters left. Hooray? **

**Beware:**** this chapter is unedited. Horrible mistakes are sure to ensue. **

**Disclaimer: {insert witty disclaimer here}**

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**Thoughts**

**Chapter 17: We Haven't Given Up, Part I (Fight For Freedom)**

So after being convinced by the devious little child named Marlene that she could be left home alone with only Nanaki with her—and actually _believing _her—we nabbed some bikes and roared our way to the outskirts of Edge, into the dead, desert area. It was barren, almost like it was sucking the life out of the sky and ground. You could see for miles.

We had been going at it, riding around in circles, for an hour. My confidence that I had oozed just a little while ago was fading.

I was sure that Vincent was right. I was sure _I _was right.

But I mean, what I was looking for... it was a one-in-a-million chance to just happen across it while wandering around in circles.

And everyone else was getting anxious. Yuffie, who was attached to my waist behind me, yelled into my ear over the roar of the motorcycle, "Are you sure we're looking in the right area?"

I didn't answer. I only shut the engine off, slamming on the breaks simultaneously like Cloud taught me. We skidded, coming to a quick stop. Yuffie let out a nervous giggle.

I stood up, yanking down the goggles and letting them fall around my neck. I ran a hand through my hair, effectively killing the pony-tail it was in. I stooped down and picked the band up, snapping in agitatedly.

I heard a collective silence as everyone else came up and stopped their motorcycles around us, in an oval shape. Someone gave a cough.

I pinched my nose, not knowing what to say. No one said anything, unwilling to admit what we all knew.

We didn't have a single clue to what we were looking for. We didn't even know if we were looking in the right area.

"It's over," Cid said, his voice growing louder, "It's fucking _over_! We _lost_!We don't have a goddamn clue to where they are! They're _gone_!Fucking _gone_!"When his voice stopped echoing in the wasteland, it was silent once again.

I clenched my eyes closed. _No, _I thought desperately, _it can't be over. We've not found them yet. It can't...we can't...I can't...lose him...them..._

Yuffie touched my shoulder. "Cid's right. We're on a wild-goose-chase, y'know? We can't do anything else..."

I whispered, "Don't say that."

Barrett took on a empathetic tone, "We're not giving up. Remember what the note said. He's doing something Sunday, right? We'll definitely find him then."

My hand turned into a clawed fist. "But what if we can't stop him then? What if we'll be too late?"

"We won't."

I whirled on him, my eyes opening, my emotions flaying. "You can't be so sure! When have things worked for us in the past, huh?"

Barret spluttered, "Well, um...In the end, everything works out."

"In the end," I muttered acidly. What a bitter consolation prize. "But what if our 'in the end' doesn't happen this time?" I was acting childish, but I couldn't have cared less.

Barrett didn't have an answer.

I let out a shriek and kicked the dirt viciously by my feet, scattering dust everywhere. I heard Yuffie start coughing.

My eyebrows crinkled. What was that noise?

When the dust cleared and we could see again, I turned to Vincent, knowing his hearing had to be better than all of ours. "Vince... did you hear that?"

His eyes were already trained on me. "Yes."

I shuffled forward, but didn't hear it again. Biting my lip, I studied the ground before I let my foot drop on the area I was sure I kicked. The sound rang out again.

My gaze flickered to Vincent's again. By now, we had the whole group's attention. I knew what it was. "Metal," Vincent and I said at the same time, which was kind of creepy.

Dropping to my knees, I pattered around with my hands, blinking away the dust that flew into my eyes.

"What—" Yuffie started before Vincent cut her off.

"Shut up."

I could almost see Yuffie's pout even though I wasn't facing her.

After a few more seconds, I stood up, motioning for everyone to gather around. I felt pride swell up in my chest, and the flicker of hope that was dying out becoming ignited once again.

There, by my feet, was a metal plate that was still partial covered by sand. "Amazing..." Zack murmured.

You could clearly see the 'UW' perfectly engraved there, like a beacon; marking a path directly to rescue.

"Shh! Do you wanna get caught?" Yuffie whisper-yelled at Zack, who had tumbled to the ground after slipping on some loose rocks that tumbled down from where we pried open the trap-door. He whimpered in response to Yuffie yanking on his ear.

I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore them, following Vince in the downward slope that we were traveling. The ground was packed and too flat to be natural. The path we were on had been walked previously by too many to count. This was it. We were almost there.

We turned a corner and the last sliver of light from the tunnel opening was gone. Vince, of course, didn't stutter in his stride, but the rest of us stumbled slightly as we reached out a hand to the wall momentarily, waiting for our eyes to adjust.

Shaking it off, we continued our way down. As the gradual descent lengthened, you could practically feel the air twitch with nervousness and anxiety.

"What's the plan when we get down there, Teef?" I felt a hand on my shoulder accompanied by Zack's voice. My heart did a little tug, but that was all. I wasn't blind. I had seen that hand with Aeris', the comforting going on. And I wasn't jealous. At least, not anymore.

"Well..." I was at a loss for words. We really didn't have a plan. We were just making it up as we went along.

"Leave her be, Zack. Even Teef don't know everythin'." Barrett clapped me on the shoulder with his human hand.

Feeling a wave of relief, I spoke, "Yeah. I mean, the plan really is making itself up as we go."

Yuffie spoke up, "So we don't even know when this dang tunnel ends—"

Vince stopped in front of us, his gold-clad arm shooting out. "Stop." Yuffie ran into the arm and let out a small '_oof'. _

Almost twenty feet in front of us was the tunnel opening. It wasn't very bright and we couldn't hear anything except for two echoing voices murmuring to each other.

Yuffie latched onto Vincent's arm. "What're they saying?" She breathed softly.

He didn't say anything for a few seconds. I could see his lips form the words he heard. Finally he sighed and loosened his frozen position, putting his arm down. "They're talking about the recruit that Zanaku took special interest in." His eyes pierced ours as he flickered his gaze between us all. "The man with mako colored eyes."

Of course we all knew who he was talking about. I heard whispers of _Cloud _around me.

Being the protective mother that I was, I asked, "Did they mention anything about Denzel?"

Something akin to pity entered Vincent's eyes. "No," he murmured, "sorry, Tifa."

I squared my shoulders. Just because two bumbling idiots didn't think to mention the name of a child didn't mean he was out of our grasp.

"Okay, guys, here's the plan..."

No more than five minutes later, the guardsmen were out cold, along with the five other uniformed men who came rushing when they heard their comrades cries. The corridor we were standing in had an oval shape to it, bowing towards the opening from the pathway we were just in. There were hallways that branched off and curved away from our view. Everything was made from metal. The floor was covered in dust, as was the air. We waited to see if there were any more people within ear-shot of our little skirmish. Since there was no immediate alarms ringing or clanging feet, we assumed we were in the clear for awhile.

Walking around in a circle while trying to keep my noise level at a minimum, I stared at the three hallways that all went in different directions.

I felt eyes on me. Trusting ones. I bit my lip, debating. _Why am I in charge?_

Rubbing my nose, I studied each hallway. With my back at the entrance and one hallway, there were two more at my left and right.

Hmm. Was it just me, or was it odd that one wall was host to two hallways, while the one I faced didn't have a single one?

Making a snap-and-probably-stupid decision, I swiped Vincent's Cerberus and took a round of shots at the empty wall. Three loud and piercing _bangs! _were heard, along with a thin trail of smoke winding its way up from the nozzle of the gun. Cries of alarm and distress didn't distract me while I strolled up to the three holes in a triangle in the wall, peering through. No ordinary wall of an underground facility would be pierced by simple bullets. Smirking, I threw Cerberus back to Vince—who caught it gracefully—before swinging my closed fist to where the three holes were. My hand went clean through. When I pulled my fist back, you could clearly see another hallway, more brightly lit than the one we were in.

_This is why._

I turned to Barrett, who had a glimmer in his eye. "Want to do the honors?"

He gazed at me with confusion. "Teefs, dat'll only tell 'em we're here and roarin' for a fight."

Aeris stepped up next to me. "Barrett, don't you think they already know we're here? Zanaku's smart. He probably has video cameras taping us right now."

Okay, that thought made me really uneasy, and an unsettling question popped up in my head; if he already knew we were here, why wait and not attack us?

He stared at her for a few seconds, then turned his gaze to me. I nodded, and he sighed and seemed to resign himself to the fact that he had the final word. Whether we continue on, or stop now.

Barrett took aim and fired.

After the dust cleared, we slowly made our way over the rubble that used to be the wall separating us from the hidden hallway. The room was brighter and everything was white-washed, which was kind of cliché. It was spick and span: if you ignored the gigantic mess behind us.

We crept along the only corridor in the room silently, the anticipation hovering over us like a worried mother. Everyone was tense and waiting for an out-of-place sound, voice, _anything, _that would alert us to the fact that we were no longer the predator, but the prey.

And then the ridiculously long hallway ended.

Really, it wasn't much. A door. A single door, and the only reason it stood out against all that white was because of the contrast of colors.

All eyes were on the black door. No one breathed. I don't know what we were expecting; were we expecting the door to open for us? To do tricks? I don't know.

I heard a _shink! _of metal and a clink of something snapping against the ground. It was Yuffie's Conformer. All eyes turned to her face, which held a determination and a glint of something like maturity in their depths. Then, in turn, every single one of us unsheathed our weapons: Cid's Venus Gospel, Aeris' Princess Guard, Vincent's Cerberus, Zack's Buster Sword, and finally, I tightened the gloves on my hands, flexing my fingers and adjusting the guard around my elbow. Barrett's arm whirred in the background, transforming back into his deathly gun.

Locking eyes with my friends, I saw the readiness and fighter-instinct in everyone. There was no doubt about it, if any of them had any doubts left; we were always going to be a team, like this perhaps, willing to fight for freedom. Even if that freedom was not our own, but of people we didn't know, and two very important people we did.

I twisted the knob and pushed, opening the door to a scene of chaos.

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**So... what did you think? (And don't hate me because of a cliff-hanger. The story's coming to a close, so there's gotta be suspense, ne?)**

**Until I can figure out what to write next,**

**-Truth**


	18. We Haven't Given Up, Part II

**Surprise~! I'm not dead. Yeah. Anyways.**

Disclaimer: I don't own, blah blah blah...

** This chapter would not be readable if it wasn't for my amazing friend/proof-reader, Kiki-chan, who's username you'll see below.**

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**Thoughts**

**Chapter 18: We Haven't Given Up, Part II (Awakened)**

The spectacle before me made my heart stop. It literally just stopped working, before yet again thundering into a overdrive.

The black door was misleading. It was not a small room we stepped into, but one so large it was scary; not because of its size, but because it was packed.

A sea of people, all crammed together to fit into the room. No one paid us any mind, though. Every single body that was in the storage room from hell was silent; they were standing with perfect posture and blank expressions. Brainwashed warriors-in-the-making just waiting for their free will to be taken, only to be replaced by Zanaku's motives.

Cloud and Denzel were waiting for that fate. My vision blurred with red.

There was a ledge to the front of the room, and on the ledge stood a man. A man with the gait of madness.

Serge. Of course.

Luckily, he was facing away from us, but he could turn around at any moment, and we'd be screwed.

I bit my lip to prevent myself from _actually _growling, and after I was sure I wouldn't, I whispered to everyone, "Okay, come on. Meet back up under the ledge where he can't see us."

Getting a collective 'let's go' from the group, we dissolved into the crowd, lowering our heads and slipping through the people easily. Surprisingly, they didn't take note of us, just let themselves be jostled every now and then. They didn't even seem aware that we were there.

But all of them had the creepy slitted cat eyes. I could do nothing but shiver at the void that resided in them.

As I quickly made my way across the vast room, I couldn't help but look for the spiky-haired hero and my trooper, but I never found them. I did see other people I recognized, though. The girl from the flower shop, the old man who comes in to the bar every Thursday... Disgusted, I refused to believe my eyes when they locked onto a little girl, sucking a pacifier, standing on wobbly legs that weren't used to being stood on yet.

I would _murder _him. I didn't care what happened afterwards, but I would fucking _murder _him.

Without me realizing it, I was leaning against the pillar under the ledge, totally still, my knuckles white from gripping the support beam.

"Teefs? You alright in there?" a whisper sounded from my right.

Yuffie put a hand on my shoulder. Smiling at her, I shrugged it off. I jerked my head upwards, thumped my closed fist against the beam, and they got the message.

There were two pillars directly opposite of each other, with grooves every few inches, which made it a simple enough thing to climb. I waited until everyone else was halfway up before I adjusted my gloves and started scaling the roughly twenty-five feet pillar.

Barrett made it to the top first, shortly followed by Vincent, who was climbing adjacent to him. Silently, he peeked over the top of the railing, and gave us a 'wait' motion with his hands. We all tensed, frozen. My right foot was dangling between footholds, so all of my weight was currently on an half-inch ledge. I gritted my teeth, struggling to maintain my position. I tried putting more weight on my hands, but it only served to make it worse.

If Vincent didn't hurry up, I would either fall or slip down, which would make enough noise to alert Serge to our infiltration.

Just when I was getting ready to try to make the quietest fall I could manage, Vincent waved his arm forward, our signal for _'go beat shit outta people!'. _We all surged upward, and I let out a quiet sigh of relief.

I heard an outraged cry and a gut-wrenching '_whump!' _noise that usually accompanied a thud to the ground by the unconscious body that was stupid enough to get in the way of Barrett's deadly punches. I heard no gun-shots or power-up noises; good, that meant they're playing it safe. We didn't know if anyone was close enough that would be able to hear such a noise.

By the time I made it to the top, Serge was out cold, with a small trickle of blood leaking from the back of his head. Sighing, I bent down to check to see if he still had a pulse, courtesy of my guilty conscience. He still did. I reached down to untie the rope from my belt-loop, getting ready to rope him up so if he woke up before we made it back here, he couldn't escape or notify someone that we were in the building.

Aeris knelt down to help me. We were done within the minute. Straightening, I surveyed the area, before realizing that there was no other hallway to go down.  
There was a table that went around three sides of the ledge. A few computers sat on it, some papers, but not much else. I walked over to the closed edge and nudged the mouse. The screen turned on, and a bird's eye view of the room below us popped up, along with various other places.

"Damn, it's a security camera," I said. I heard a few curses behind me. "Could anyone have seen anything?"

"Not likely," Vincent answered, tapping away at another computer. "Zanaku would have called his guards the moment he'd seen us."

"But what if I wanted to play? I've not had such good toys in a long time. The fun would have been ruined if I sent my little pawns out to stop you."

Our breathing stopped.

I couldn't help the liquid fire my eyes turned to. "Zanaku."

He smiled at me in a way that I almost mistook for tenderness, and if it wasn't for the gleam of ice in his eyes, I would've fell for it. "My sweet Tifa. It's a pleasure to see you again. I hope you aren't too terribly battered? How are you faring?"

Crossing my arms, I inspected my nails, ignoring the twinges of pain that he brought to the forefront of my brain. "I'm just perfect. How about you? Mess up some lives lately?"  
"Oh, my dear Tifa, you know that's not my goal."

My eyes met his mocking ones. "Then what is?"

"It's quite simple, actually. I'm going to rule the world," he told me earnestly.

It was quiet. Zanaku took a step towards me, and when he did, Vincent continued his work on the computer.

"I thought you were going to kill me? Isn't that what you wanted?"

"At first. But I realized how small-minded that was. Why put my time and energy into destroying you when I could have my own _army _do it for me?"

Without any more prompting on my part, he launched into a speech about how he would conquer Edge first, and then move on to all of the surrounding cities, before then slowly picking away the Wutainian royalty line. I grabbed onto Yuffie's arm before she could charge him with her Conformer at the ready.

Zanaku _'tsked' _at us, shaking his head, his face morphing into an expression of disappointment. "Really, now. Shouldn't you lot be better tempered in the face of your new god?"

"God?" Yuffie spluttered out, straining against my hold, "You're no god! You're just an arrogant jackass who's ego is so bloated he can't see the tips of his shoes!"

_Smack._

My mouth dropped. Yuffie—with a quickly forming red-cheek—stared, stunned, at Zanaku, who walked five feet and slapped her so hard she dropped her shuriken to the ground in less time than any of us could see him move.

To her credit, Yuffie stood tall, took her hand off her cheek, and spat out, "You're gonna hafta hit harder than that to bruise me, bastard."

That's when she flew into action.

She wretched her arm out from my deathly tight grip, picked up her weapon, and did a slicing movement.

If Zanaku was an ordinary person, he would have been dead.

But of course, this wouldn't be so easy.

He dodged her blow, and sent her tumbling to the ground with a swift kick to her rear. She collapsed, her face flushed, and started screaming at him in Wutai. Vincent cringed over in the corner. I didn't want to know what she was saying.

With him staring at her like she was insane—which wasn't entirely a false statement—I let my fist make friends with his face before introducing my other one to his stomach, then danced my way out of his reach.

Amazingly, Zanaku wouldn't fall. If he had mako eyes, I wouldn't be surprised if he was SOLDER.

I stood back, admiring how well a fight everyone put up. As long as Vincent finished whatever it is that he was doing—at least I assumed he was doing something helpful—we could figure out how to reverse whatever Zanaku had done, and everyone could be back to normal within the hour.

We could do this. I knew we could.

That's when his stupid little cronies showed up.

Someone hit me from behind with what felt like a bat, and when I turned, I saw that it _was _one. Cursing, I hit him in man's weak spot and took his weapon away from him, swinging it around in a half-arc, hitting some people, knocking others completely over.  
"Watch out!" someone yelled.  
Not knowing who he was yelling _to, _I ducked all the same. I heard something land with a crash in front of me.

It was a freaking _table. _Where the hell did _that _come from?

Grunting, a heavily muscled dude that was standing behind me had this sick sort of look on his face, and I immediately knew what was on his mind. Before he got any ideas, I jabbed and kicked him into oblivion, but not before he dealt a blow to my shoulder, making it pop out of place.

Damn, that kind of hurt.

Someone slammed into me—I thought I saw a flash of dark skin—and I was propelled towards the railing surrounding the platform we were standing on. I couldn't help a glance down, staring at the people who were standing totally still, barely breathing. After all the noise we no doubt were making, they hadn't moved a hairsbreadth in any which way.

Turning around, I took inventory of everyone. They seemed to be doing okay, but this pointless fighting was getting us nowhere. Something had to be done.

I stalked towards a familiar bald-headed man. He didn't even see me coming. I could only let a small smirk slip onto my face before bestowing him with attacks.

Unfortunately, he got loose and sent a swift kick into my knees, making them crumple underneath me. He grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanked my head back, which left my neck bared to him. Okay, so not a good idea anymore.  
"My sweet Tifa," he cooed, "Did you think you could play the hero when you were always destined to play the pawn?"

"Who says I'm a pawn? You don't know anything about me, or my plans. I _will_ save them," I whispered through pained tears.  
He gave me a pitying face. "Haven't you come to your own conclusions yet? When I say something will happen, it _will _be done, no matter the sacrifices."

I tugged against his hold. He only pulled back farther and grabbed a hold on my hurt shoulder with his other hand. I bit back a cry. "So you're willing to destroy innocent lives because of a selfish motive?"

"Dearie, I'm surprised at your naivety. Not a single person in this world we live in is innocent."

Obviously, he wasn't listening to me. You couldn't reason with a villain, which was what I was trying to do.

I wretched my arm out of his hold, slammed one fist into his neck and the other into his nose, and sprung up, no more mercy left. He was using civilians—people I knew, my _friends—_for his own personal gain. I held no sympathy for what I did to him.

I kicked him repeatedly in his head, until I was sure he was out cold. Blood streamed from his nose and a place in the back of his head.

I felt a hand place itself on my uninjured shoulder. It was pale-white. "It's done," Vincent said in that low voice of his.

Nodding, I wiped my bloody hands on my pants. "What did you do?"

He tried to explain it. "It was complicated," he said, eyebrows creased. "Most of it I didn't fully understand myself. Basically, he managed to create a... program that responded to the left-over cells of geostigma."

I didn't expect that. "That doesn't sound possible," I mumbled apprehensively, glancing at any cronies still standing. They were ignoring us.

"That's what I thought, too. But... it was genius." His eyes attained this glistening look of something akin to respect. "It was foolproof. The virus took away the free will of people who had geostigma. He brought them here, to..." he paused.

Impatient, I motioned for him to continue. "What, Vince?"

"He brought them here to eliminate pain receptors and deaden parts of the frontal lobe." Dimly, I recalled something about decision making and emotions residing there. My blank stare provoked him into continuing, albeit reluctantly. "Tifa, he was going to turn them into killing machines."

I knew the people below us were going to be soldiers, that was no shock. But to take away any remorse a normal warrior would feel, to take away the indications that a person had to show their physical limits before they went beyond that point of no return...?

Impossible.

But it wasn't.

"What do we do now, Vince?" Yuffie asked, who had jogged over to us, panting.

For the first time, I noticed that the whole group surrounded us, each either battered or bruised, but still wholly intact. Aeris held her wrist to her chest, grimacing.

"Somehow, we need to reverse the effects before they're permanent."

Frowning, I asked, "How do we do that?"

Quietly, he said, "We need to override the mainframe, but..."

_Are they going to stay like this... forever?_

Hearing coughing from somewhere behind me, I turned just before a lethargic—but still strong—hand contacted my lip, busting it. He knelt before me, shuddering, trying to make it to his feet. Shock ran through my system. How was he conscious?

As if I asked the question out loud, he gave a weak cackle. "My dear, you think I put all of my time into creating the perfect plan? That I had no side projects?" Zanaku raised his completely black eyes toward me, and it made my stomach churn. That wasn't normal. What the hell did he do to himself?

"What the fuck?" Cid yelled.

Slowly, the black color seeped from his eyes and traversed around his face, highlighting veins in his forehead and cheeks. Disturbed, I watched as his nose repaired itself before my eyes.

"Soon," he said with more confidence, "I shall be once again my godly self, and you all will die."

Without even thinking about it, I grabbed Cerberus from Vincent, grabbed onto Zanaku's neck, and placed the cold steel next to the one organ he couldn't repair.

"Wanna bet?"

He kept his eerie gaze level with mine, showing no signs of distress, but I felt his pulse quicken beneath my fingertips. "Are you positive a gun to the head will kill me? You haven't a clue, sweet Tifa, as to how well I heal."

"How do I know you're not just bluffing?" Despite my resolve, my voice wavered just slightly.

His eyes crinkled with a twisted smile. "You don't. But," he continued, "you need me. You can't kill me, if you want to ever see your friends do more than drool."

I shook him hard. "How do we reverse it? Tell me!"

An insane laugh burst from his lips, making my muscles tense. "Do you honestly think I'd give you the single bit of information that could actually _help _you? Tifa, tell me you're not that stupid."  
I raised the gun to smash it into his head—_saying that I'm unintelligent!—_but a hand grabbed onto my wrist. "Tifa," Zack mumbled, "Don't."

Sighing and shaking loose of his hold, I let the gun rest back against the side of his head. This was getting us nowhere. Again, I felt stuck, and I had to pull myself out of the mess without anyone's help, because the one person who could actually _help _me was currently getting brain-washed off his ass.

Before I could try to think up anything relatively helpful, I heard a smash-crash that usually accompanied something really, really bad.

I watched with baited breath as Barrett peered over the ledge with a curious eye. "Shit," he mumbled, "That can't be good."

"What?" I said, impatient.

Zanaku felt the need to answer. "It must be kicking in, then."

Shaking him even more violently than before, I asked shrilly, "What is?"

His black eyes stared down at the ground below us, and somehow, they still seemed to radiate smugness. "My creations," was all he said.

I felt a growing sick feeling in my stomach clench around whatever food was still there. I pushed Zanaku to the ground—although I knew that wouldn't do shit—and scurried over to the edge, afraid of what I'd see.

I was right to be scared.

_Cloud_

_ After what felt like centuries—he had no gauge as to how much time had passed—there was something other than pain. Shiva, that pain was driving him to the brink of his shredded sanity, but finally, **finally **something changed._

_A single, disjointed thought swept through his mind, mending together the broken bits and numbing the painful edges._

_**...k...ill...**_

_The word confused him: wasn't that... a bad word...? Did it mean something bad? He couldn't, for the life of him, remember much of anything. But wasn't that something bad?_

_**Kill.**_

_Again, the word came to him, though this time, a sweet hint of something like pleasure coursed through his body. His broken brain got the message._

_ If he wanted the pain to stop, if he wanted the pure, refreshingly electric pleasure back, he'd have to kill._

_ Who?_

_**Tifa Lockhart.**_

_ A slow, twisted smile forced the edges of his mouth up, and he felt the muscles in his arms ache with the desire to rip apart the fleshy bits of a certain raven-haired beauty._

_ With a barely contained yelp of glee, the man who used to be Cloud Strife began stalking towards the dainty scent of his prey._

_Tifa_

Horrified at what lay before my eyes, I stumbled back a step, my brain not functioning well enough to know that I should be formulating an escape route, and a way to make that bastard-of-a-man speak his secrets.

The now awakened civilians-turned-soldiers beneath us were roaring like starving animals. I felt the ledge we all were standing on shake lightly, due to the hundreds of bodies currently throwing themselves at the support-beams.

"Dammit! What da hell do they think they're doin'!" Barrett yelled out, scrambling back from the railing.

My back hit the wall, or what I _thought _was a wall, which turned out to be a door that I somehow managed to miss earlier. I swung around and yanked on the handle every-which way, but it didn't budge an inch.

"Shit," I cursed beneath my breath. What kind of crappy door didn't _open _when it needed to?

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Zanaku stand up, dust himself off, and started towards me, a glint of insane hate embedded in his eyes.  
"Heads up! Here they come!"

* * *

**Shocked to see an update?**

Guess what: so am I!

**Was it worth the wait? Probably not. And I might've not even updated had it not been for the insistence of a fellow writer who never posts things here, Sin and Punishment. (See, Kiki-chan) _And _the extra nudges from reviewers didn't hurt, either. So thanks, you guys. **

**I guess... my confidence just has plummeted a bit. Okay, more than a bit. Is it normal to go through little episodes like this? I dunno. But I've not written much of anything lately because of it... but I guess I'm kinda out of the slump, just a smidgen?**

The next thing I post might not be the next chapter/maybe final chapter to _Thoughts, _but perhaps a re-post of _Love at First Drink_, 'cause I read it the other day, realized how much it sucked, and started editing it. So yeah.

**Review for confidence boost?**

**Yours truly,**

**Thoughts.**


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